STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2606 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 24, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. GANTT -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the defi- nition of electric assisted bicycle 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 section 102-c to read as follows: 3 § 102-c. Electric assisted bicycle. A bicycle with two or three wheels 4 which has a saddle and fully operative pedals for human propulsion and 5 also has an electric motor. The electric assisted bicycle's electric 6 motor shall: have a power output of less than seven hundred fifty watts; 7 have a maximum speed of less than twenty miles per hour on a paved level 8 surface when powered solely by such a motor while ridden by an operator 9 who weighs one hundred seventy pounds; and be incapable of further 10 increasing the speed of the device when human power is used to propel 11 the device at or more than twenty miles per hour. 12 § 2. Section 125 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 13 365 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read as follows: 14 § 125. Motor vehicles. Every vehicle operated or driven upon a public 15 highway which is propelled by any power other than muscular power, 16 except (a) electrically-driven mobility assistance devices operated or 17 driven by a person with a disability, (a-1) electric personal assistive 18 mobility devices operated outside a city with a population of one 19 million or more, (b) vehicles which run only upon rails or tracks, (c) 20 snowmobiles as defined in article forty-seven of this chapter, [~~and~~] (d) 21 all terrain vehicles as defined in article forty-eight-B of this 22 chapter, and (e) electric assisted bicycles as defined in section one 23 hundred two-c of this article. For the purposes of title four of this 24 chapter, the term motor vehicle shall exclude fire and police vehicles 25 other than ambulances. For the purposes of titles four and five of this EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD00739-01-9

A. 2606 2 1 chapter the term motor vehicles shall exclude farm type tractors and all 2 terrain type vehicles used exclusively for agricultural purposes, or for 3 snow plowing, other than for hire, farm equipment, including self-pro- 4 pelled machines used exclusively in growing, harvesting or handling farm 5 produce, and self-propelled caterpillar or crawler-type equipment while 6 being operated on the contract site. 7 § 3. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 8 1238-a to read as follows: 9 § 1238-a. Additional provisions applicable to electric assisted bicy- 10 cles, operators and passengers. 1. In addition to complying with all of 11 the rules, regulations and provisions applicable to bicycles contained 12 in this article, an electric assisted bicycle as defined in section one 13 hundred two-c of this chapter shall comply with the following require- 14 ments: 15 (a) Meet the equipment and manufacturing requirements for bicycles 16 adopted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (16 C.F.R. 1512.1, et 17 seq.) or the requirements adopted by the National Highway Traffic Safety 18 Administration (49 C.F.R. 571.1, et seq.) in accordance with the 19 National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. Sec. 20 1381, et seq.) for motor driven cycles; and 21 (b) Operate in a manner so that the electric motor is disengaged or 22 ceases to function when the brakes are applied, or operate in a manner 23 such that the motor is engaged through a switch or mechanism that, when 24 released, will cause the electric motor to disengage or cease to func- 25 tion. 26 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of section twelve hundred thirty- 27 eight of this article, no person less than sixteen years of age shall 28 operate or ride as a passenger upon an electric assisted bicycle, and no 29 person sixteen years of age or older shall allow any person less than 30 sixteen years of age to operate or ride as a passenger upon such bicy- 31 cle. 32 3. No person sixteen years of age or older shall operate or ride as a 33 passenger on an electric assisted bicycle unless such person is wearing 34 a helmet meeting standards established by the commissioner. For the 35 purposes of this subdivision, wearing a helmet means having a helmet of 36 good fit fastened securely on the head of such wearer with the helmet 37 straps securely fastened. 38 4. (a) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision two or 39 three of this section shall pay a civil fine not to exceed fifty 40 dollars. 41 (b) The court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the 42 provisions of subdivision three of this section would be liable if such 43 person supplies the court with proof that between the date of violation 44 and the appearance date for such violation such person purchased or 45 rented a helmet. 46 (c) The court may waive any fine for which a person who violates the 47 provisions of subdivision three of this section would be liable if the 48 court finds that due to reasons of economic hardship such person was 49 unable to purchase a helmet or due to such economic hardship such person 50 was unable to obtain a helmet from the statewide in-line skate and bicy- 51 cle helmet distribution program or a local distribution program. 52 5. The failure of any person to comply with the provisions of this 53 section shall not constitute contributory negligence or assumption of 54 risk, and shall not in any way bar, preclude or foreclose an action for 55 personal injury or wrongful death by or on behalf of such person, nor in 56 any way diminish or reduce the damages recoverable in any such action.

A. 2606 3 1 6. A police officer shall only issue a summons for a violation of 2 subdivision two or three of this section by a person less than sixteen 3 years of age to the parent or guardian of such person if the violation 4 by such person occurs in the presence of such person's parent or guardi- 5 an and where such parent or guardian is eighteen years of age or more. 6 Such summons shall only be issued to such parent or guardian, and shall 7 not be issued to the person less than sixteen years of age. 8 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

Defines the term electric assisted bicycle

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