Bill Text: NY A10891 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires bicycle passengers and operators under the age of eighteen to wear a helmet and increases fines for violations.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-08-17 - referred to transportation [A10891 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A10891-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 10891 IN ASSEMBLY August 17, 2020 ___________ Introduced by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Jaffee) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring bicycle passengers and operators under the age of eighteen to wear a helmet The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 1238 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by 2 chapter 267 of the laws of 1993, the section heading as amended by 3 section 4, subdivision 5-c as added by section 5, subdivision 6 as 4 amended by section 6 and subdivision 8 as amended by section 7 of part 5 XX of chapter 58 of the laws of 2020, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 and 6 paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 457 of the 7 laws of 1999, subdivisions 2-a, 5-a, 9 and 10 as amended by chapter 703 8 of the laws of 2004, subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 132 of the laws 9 of 1994, subdivision 5-b as added by chapter 402 of the laws of 2001, 10 and subdivision 7 as added by chapter 267 of the laws of 1993, is 11 amended to read as follows: 12 § 1238. Passengers on bicycles under one year of age prohibited; 13 passengers and operators under [fourteen] eighteen years of age to wear 14 protective headgear; operators of class three bicycles with electric 15 assist to wear protective headgear. 1. No person operating a bicycle 16 shall allow a person who is under one year of age to ride as a passenger 17 on a bicycle nor shall such person be carried in a pack fastened to the 18 operator. A first violation of the provisions of this subdivision shall 19 result in no fine. A second violation shall result in a civil fine not 20 to exceed [fifty] one hundred dollars. 21 2. No person operating a bicycle shall allow a person one or more 22 years of age and less than five years of age to ride as a passenger on a 23 bicycle unless: 24 (a) such passenger is wearing a helmet meeting standards established 25 by the commissioner. For the purposes of this subdivision wearing a 26 helmet means having a helmet of good fit fastened securely upon the head 27 with the helmet straps; and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD17045-02-0A. 10891 2 1 (b) such passenger is placed in a separate seat attached to the bicy- 2 cle and such seat shall have adequate provision for retaining the 3 passenger in place and for protecting the passenger from the moving 4 parts of the bicycle. 5 2-a. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations estab- 6 lishing standards for helmets required to be worn while bicycling, 7 in-line skating, or operating a skate board. Such standards, to the 8 extent practicable, shall reflect the standards recommended by the Snell 9 Memorial Foundation, Safety Equipment Institute, or United States 10 Consumer Product Safety Commission. 11 3. Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision two of this 12 section shall pay a civil fine not to exceed [fifty] one hundred 13 dollars. 14 4. The court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the 15 provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section would be 16 liable if such person supplies the court with proof that between the 17 date of violation and the appearance date for such violation such person 18 purchased or rented a helmet, which meets the requirements of paragraph 19 (a) of subdivision two of this section. Further, the court shall waive 20 any fine for which a person who violates the provisions of paragraph (b) 21 of subdivision two of this section would be liable if such person 22 supplies the court with proof that between the date of violation and the 23 appearance date for such violation such person purchased or rented a 24 seat which meets the requirements of paragraph (b) of subdivision two of 25 this section. The court may waive any fine for which a person who 26 violates the provisions of subdivision two of this section would be 27 liable if the court finds that due to reasons of economic hardship such 28 person was unable to purchase a helmet or seat. Such waiver of fine 29 shall not apply to a second or subsequent conviction under paragraph (a) 30 or (b) of subdivision two of this section. 31 5. (a) No person operating a bicycle shall allow a person five or more 32 years of age and less than [fourteen] eighteen years of age to ride as a 33 passenger on a bicycle unless such passenger is wearing a helmet meeting 34 standards established by the commissioner. 35 (b) No person, one or more years of age and less than [fourteen] eigh- 36 teen years of age, shall operate a bicycle unless such person is wearing 37 a helmet meeting standards established by the commissioner. 38 (c) For the purposes of this subdivision wearing a helmet means having 39 a helmet of good fit fastened securely upon the head with the helmet 40 straps. 41 5-a. No person, one or more years of age and less than [fourteen] 42 eighteen years of age, shall skate or glide on in-line skates or a skate 43 board unless such person is wearing a helmet meeting standards estab- 44 lished by the commissioner. For the purposes of this subdivision, wear- 45 ing a helmet means having a helmet of good fit fastened securely on the 46 head of such wearer with the helmet straps securely fastened. 47 5-b. No person less than [fourteen] eighteen years of age shall ride 48 upon, propel or otherwise operate a two-wheeled vehicle commonly called 49 a scooter unless such person is wearing a helmet meeting standards 50 established by the commissioner. As used in this subdivision, wearing a 51 helmet means having a properly fitting helmet fixed securely on the head 52 of such wearer with the helmet straps securely fastened. 53 5-c. No person shall ride upon, propel or otherwise operate a class 54 three bicycle with electric assist unless such person is wearing a 55 helmet meeting standards established by the commissioner. For the 56 purposes of this subdivision, wearing a helmet means having a properlyA. 10891 3 1 fitting helmet fixed securely on the head of such wearer with the helmet 2 straps securely fastened. 3 6. (a) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision five, 4 five-a, five-b or five-c of this section shall pay a civil fine not to 5 exceed [fifty] one hundred dollars. 6 (b) The court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the 7 provisions of subdivision five or subdivision five-c of this section 8 would be liable if such person supplies the court with proof that 9 between the date of violation and the appearance date for such violation 10 such person purchased or rented a helmet. 11 (c) The court may waive any fine for which a person who violates the 12 provisions of subdivision five, five-a, five-b, or five-c of this 13 section would be liable if the court finds that due to reasons of 14 economic hardship such person was unable to purchase a helmet or due to 15 such economic hardship such person was unable to obtain a helmet from 16 the statewide in-line skate and bicycle helmet distribution program, as 17 established in section two hundred six of the public health law, or a 18 local distribution program. Such waiver of a fine shall not apply to a 19 second or subsequent violation of subdivision five-c of this section. 20 7. The failure of any person to comply with the provisions of this 21 section shall not constitute contributory negligence or assumption of 22 risk, and shall not in any way bar, preclude or foreclose an action for 23 personal injury or wrongful death by or on behalf of such person, nor in 24 any way diminish or reduce the damages recoverable in any such action. 25 8. (a) A police officer shall only issue a summons for a violation of 26 subdivision two, five, or five-a of this section by a person less than 27 [fourteen] eighteen years of age to the parent or guardian of such 28 person if the violation by such person occurs in the presence of such 29 person's parent or guardian [and where such parent or guardian is eigh-30teen years of age or more]. Such summons shall only be issued to such 31 parent or guardian, and shall not be issued to the person less than 32 [fourteen] eighteen years of age. 33 (b) A police officer shall only issue a summons for a violation of 34 subdivision five-c of this section by a person less than sixteen years 35 of age to the parent or guardian of such person if the violation by such 36 person occurs in the presence of such person's parent or guardian [and37where such parent or guardian is eighteen years of age or more]. Such 38 summons shall only be issued to such parent or guardian, and shall not 39 be issued to the person less than sixteen years of age. 40 9. Subdivisions five, five-a, five-b, and six of this section shall 41 not be applicable to any county, city, town or village that has enacted 42 a local law or ordinance prior to the effective date of this subdivision 43 that prohibits a person who is one or more years of age and less than 44 [fourteen] eighteen years of age from operating a bicycle or skating or 45 gliding on in-line skates or a skate board without wearing a bicycle 46 helmet meeting the standards of the American National Standards Insti- 47 tute (Ansi Z 90.4 bicycle helmet standards), the Snell Memorial Founda- 48 tion's Standards for Protective Headgear for use in Bicycling, or the 49 American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) bike helmet standards, 50 or that prohibits a person operating a bicycle from allowing a person 51 five or more years of age and less than [fourteen] eighteen years of age 52 to ride as a passenger on a bicycle unless such passenger is wearing a 53 bicycle helmet that meets such standards. The failure of any person to 54 comply with any such local law or ordinance shall not constitute contri- 55 butory negligence or assumption of risk, and shall not in any way bar, 56 preclude or foreclose an action for personal injury or wrongful death byA. 10891 4 1 or on behalf of such person, nor in any way diminish or reduce the 2 damages recoverable in any such action. The legislative body of a coun- 3 ty, city, town or village may enact a local law or ordinance that 4 prohibits a person who is [fourteen] eighteen or more years of age from 5 skating or gliding on in-line skates, operating a skate board, or oper- 6 ating or riding as a passenger on a bicycle without wearing a bicycle 7 helmet. 8 10. No person shall skate or glide on in-line skates or a skate board 9 outside during the period of time between one-half hour after sunset and 10 one-half hour before sunrise unless such person is wearing readily visi- 11 ble reflective clothing or material which is of a light or bright color. 12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
