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History
- Referred to codes
- Referred to codes
Companion bill
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Establishes the crime of unlawful failure to obey a police officer while operating a motor vehicle
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Joan Christensen
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of unlawful failure to obey a police officer while operating a motor vehicle
Purpose
This legislation would make it a crime to disobey a police officer's command to safely stop a motor vehicle.
Summary of legislation
Section 1: The penal law is amended by added new section 270.40 which makes unlawful failure to obey a police officer while operating a motor vehicle a class B misdemeanor. This statute requires an operator of a motor vehicle, when directed by a uniformed police officer or a marked police vehicle, to stop the vehicle at the side of the road in the amount of time it takes to bring the vehicle to a stop. Section 2: Effective Date.
Existing law
None.
Justification
Both high speed and low speed chases can result in dangerous conditions which many times lead to innocent people or law enforcement officers suffering personal injury. Because the current punishment for failing to obey a police officer is relatively lenient, individuals, calculating that the penalties if caught are not great, may attempt to flee the police, rather than pull over S.8445, which dealt with high speed chases by making it a class A misdemeanor to flee from the police at speeds above 25 miles per hour over the speed limit, was signed into law in 2006. However, that bill did not address a motorists failure to stop without disregarding other motor vehicle laws. Therefore, this bill is designed to protect police officers, and other motorists by deterring such activity and appropriately punishing those who fail to stop but do not disregard other motor vehicle laws.
Legislative history
2005-2006: S.974-A Rules; 2007-2008 Passed Senate.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.