Provides that no person sixteen years of age or over shall be a passenger in a motor vehicle unless such person is restrained by a safety belt

3 Co-sponsors

• Martin Malavé Dilan
• Owen H. Johnson
• William J. Larkin Jr.

BILL NUMBER:S599A

Title of bill

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to mandatory seat belt use

Purpose

Provides that no person sixteen years of age or over shall be a passenger in a motor vehicle unless such person is retrained by a safety belt.

Summary of provisions

Section one amends section 1229-c of the vehicle and traffic law to require all passengers' in a vehicle to be restrained by safety belt.

Existing law

Existing law requires all passengers in the front to be restrained, but only those under the age of 16 must be restrained in the rear.

Justification

In 2003, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) traffic crashes were the number one cause of death for people 4 to 35 years old. From 1975 to 2002, safety belts prevented an estimated 164,753 fatalities. According to NHTSA's The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes 2000, the use of safety belts saved society $585 billion in medical care, lost productivity, and other injury-related economic costs (since 1975). Ejection from the vehicle is one of the most harmful events that can happen to a person in a crash. In passenger vehicle crashes in which someone died in 2002, 73 percent of occupants who were completely ejected were killed. Safety belts are effective in preventing total ejection's. In 2002, in crashes in which someone was killed, only 1 percent of the occupants reported to have been using restraints were totally ejected, compared with 30 percent of unrestrained occupants (in passenger vehicles).

Currently, 19 other states (Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming and the District of Columbia) have laws which require all passengers in a vehicle to wear a seat restraint. In states that use restraints for all passengers the number of deaths and injuries caused by ejection and side-impact have been reduced.

Legislative history

2009-10: Referred to Transportation (S.42) 2008: Referred to Transportation (S.5689/A.9594)

Fiscal implications

None.

Local fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the date on which it shall have become law.