STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1375 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 14, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. FUNKE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the creation of a yellow alert system to be activated when a hit and run has resulted in death or serious injury The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new 2 article 22-A to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 22-A 4 YELLOW ALERT SYSTEM 5 Section 620. Short title. 6 621. Definitions. 7 622. Procedure. 8 § 620. Short title. This article shall be known and may be cited as 9 the "yellow alert system". 10 § 621. Definitions. As used in this article: 1. "Yellow alert" shall 11 mean a notification system, activated pursuant to section six hundred 12 twenty-two of this article, designed to coordinate alerts with respect 13 to a hit and run incident resulting in the death or injury of a person 14 as described in subdivision four of section six hundred twenty-two of 15 this article. 16 2. "Hit and run" shall mean when a driver of a vehicle who is involved 17 in a collision with another vehicle, property or human being, knowingly 18 fails to stop to give his or her name, license number, and other infor- 19 mation as required by section six hundred of this title. 20 § 622. Procedure. 1. If a hit and run incident is reported to a law 21 enforcement agency, and that agency determines that the requirements of 22 subdivision four of this section are met, the agency may request the New 23 York state police to activate a yellow alert. If the New York state EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD07119-01-9S. 1375 2 1 police concurs that the requirements of subdivision four of this section 2 are met, it shall activate a yellow alert within the geographic area 3 requested by the investigating law enforcement agency. 4 2. Radio, television, and cable and satellite systems are encouraged, 5 but are not required, to cooperate with disseminating the information 6 contained in a yellow alert. 7 3. Upon activation of a yellow alert, the New York state police shall 8 assist the investigating law enforcement agency by issuing the yellow 9 alert via a local digital sign. 10 4. A law enforcement agency may request that a yellow alert be acti- 11 vated if that agency determines that the following conditions are met in 12 regard to the investigation of the hit and run incident: 13 a. A person has been killed or has suffered serious bodily injury due 14 to a hit and run incident; 15 b. The investigating law enforcement agency has additional information 16 concerning the suspect or the suspect's vehicle, including, but not 17 limited to, any of the following: 18 (i) The complete license plate number of the suspect's vehicle; 19 (ii) A partial license plate number and the make, model, and color of 20 the suspect's vehicle; 21 (iii) The identity of the suspect; and 22 c. Public dissemination of available information could either help 23 avert further harm or accelerate apprehension of the suspect. 24 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 25 have become a law.