Authorizes police officers to arrest a driver of a motor vehicle in certain circumstances

BILL NUMBER:S872A

Title of bill

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing police officers to arrest a driver of a motor vehicle in certain circumstances

Purpose

This bill allows police officers to arrest a driver of a motor vehicle in certain circumstances without a warrant.

Summary of provisions

Section 1146, Article 26 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law is amended to add a new subdivision (f). A police officer may arrest, without a warrant, a driver whom the officer has reasonable cause to believe violated subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 1146, which allow for a traffic infraction punishable by fines not to exceed five hundred dollars or seven hundred fifty dollars, depending on the severity of injury caused, or imprisonment not to exceed fifteen days, or required participation in a motor vehicle accident prevention course, or a combination of any of these punishments when a driver has caused physical injury or serious physical injury to a pedestrian or bicyclist due to failure to exercise due care in the operation of a motor vehicle.

Justification

The 2010 amendments to Section 1146, Article 26 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, commonly called Hayley and Diego's Law, establish a traffic infraction for drivers who injure a pedestrian or bicyclist due to a failure to exercise due care in operating a motor vehicle. VTL 1146 has seen limited enforcement in part because police officers may only issue a VTL 1146 when such accident occurs in the police officer's presence. This addition to VTL 1146 allows police officers to issue a VTL 1146 violation even if the accident did not take place in the presence of the police officer if the officer has reasonable cause to believe that the violation was committed by such person.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal impact on the state

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect the 90th after it shall have become law.