What's happening
This bill requires people with suspended or revoked driver's licenses to surrender their vehicle license plates and registrations, with certain hardship exceptions.
Why it matters
Strengthens enforcement of license suspension/revocation. by requiring not just the individual’s driving privileges, but also their ability to keep vehicles registered, to be temporarily removed—making it harder for suspended drivers to drive illegally.
Creates a direct consequence for failing to surrender plates. , establishing a new infraction with significant fines and potential jail time, which may increase compliance and deterrence.
Impacts household members. by potentially forcing families to give up shared vehicles if the primary registrant loses their license—unless they can prove extreme hardship and qualify for a waiver, protecting non-offending spouses and relatives.
Limits loopholes and administrative workarounds. by preventing suspended individuals from registering vehicles in their own or others' names, aiming to close gaps that previously allowed continued vehicle access during a suspension period.
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Who cares
Drivers with suspended or revoked licenses
Those covered by the bill would have all vehicle registrations in their name suspended and must surrender their plates within 14 days of receiving notice or face fines, jail time or both.
Licensed spouses and immediate family members
Those who jointly use an affected vehicle could seek an extreme-hardship waiver, with proof of joint use acceptable to the motor vehicles commissioner.
Department of Motor Vehicles
The department would have to mail notices within 30 days of license suspension or revocation, administer hardship waivers and block registrations intended to evade the restrictions.
Headline styles
Take Plates for Suspended Licenses
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4441
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 11, 2019
Introduced by Sens. GIANARIS, ADDABBO, BRESLIN, HOYLMAN, KRUEGER, PARK- ER, STAVISKY -- 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 surrender of number plates of all motor vehicles which a person has registered where such person has a suspended or revoked license
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section 403-c to read as follows:
§ 403-c. Surrender of registration and number plates. 1. Any person who has had their license suspended or revoked pursuant to section five hundred ten or five hundred ten-a of this chapter shall surrender to the department the number plates of all motor vehicles which such person has registered pursuant to this article, and shall have any motor vehicle registrations which belong to such person suspended. Such surrender of number plates and vehicle suspension or suspensions shall remain in effect as long as the suspension or revocation of such driver's license.
2. All motor vehicles registered to such person shall not be registered or reregistered in the name of such person, or in any other name where the commissioner has reasonable grounds to believe that such registration or reregistration will have the effect of defeating the purposes of this section, and no other motor vehicle shall be registered in the name of such person during the period of such suspension.
3. Except as provided in subdivision five of section four hundred twenty-eight of this title, refunds of fees assessed pursuant to this article and article fourteen-A of this title shall not be provided when suspension is mandated pursuant to subdivision one of this section.
4. a. The commissioner or his or her duly authorized agent shall notify each person whose license has been suspended or revoked of his or her obligation to surrender the number plates of any motor vehicles which
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10564-01-9
S. 4441 2
such person has registered pursuant to this article, and of the suspension of any vehicle registrations in his or her name.
b. Such notice shall include the name and address of the person whose license has been suspended or revoked, the vehicle registration number or numbers which are suspended, the number plates of the vehicle or vehicles which must be surrendered, the infraction, infractions, offense and/or offenses for which the registration is suspended and number plates must be surrendered, and the dates and times of the convictions for such infractions and/or offenses.
c. The notice shall also contain a warning advising the person of the consequences of failure to surrender number plates.
d. The notice required by this subdivision shall be provided by first class mail to the registrant of the motor vehicle within thirty days of the license suspension or revocation.
e. Such person shall surrender any number plates for any vehicle for which the person is the registrant within fourteen days of receiving notice from the department. Failure to surrender number plates upon notice shall constitute an infraction, punishable upon conviction by a fine not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisonment for not more than fifteen days or both such fine and imprisonment.
5. A waiver of the provisions of subdivisions one and two of this section shall be available for motor vehicles which are jointly used by spouses or other immediate family members if the implementation of such subdivision would result in an extreme hardship for the spouse or family member whose license has not been suspended or revoked. To be eligible for an extreme hardship exception, a duly licensed spouse or immediate family member must furnish proof acceptable to the commissioner or his or her duly authorized agent that he or she jointly uses a motor vehicle whose registration and number plates would otherwise be subject to suspension or surrender pursuant to subdivision one or two of this section. Acceptable proof shall include without limitation the spouse or immediate family member being named in a policy of liability insurance for the motor vehicle pursuant to article seven of this chapter before the date of conviction, and any additional factors that the commissioner or his or her duly authorized agent deems necessary to establish joint use. The commissioner or his or her duly authorized agent shall determine whether an individual qualifies as an immediate family member, provided that such definition of immediate family members shall include without limitation domestic partners as defined in section four of the workers' compensation law and any children of the registrant.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the surrender of number plates of all motor vehicles which a person has registered where such person has a suspended or revoked license
Summary of specific provisions
Section one amends the vehicle and traffic law by adding a new section 403-c. The section would require any person who has had their license suspended or revoked pursuant to the vehicle and traffic law to surren- der the certificates of registration and number plates of registered motor vehicles to the department of motor vehicles. Additionally, the Department of Motor Vehicles will provide notice to those who must return such plates and registrations, and provides a penalty for noncom- pliance. Last, there is an exception to this requirement for vehicles shared by members of the affected person's family when the return of such plates and registrations would result in undue hardship.
Justification
Recently, more attention has been paid to the fact that drivers with suspended licenses in New York State are still getting behind the wheel - and killing people. Ten percent of all crashes in New York are caused by drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, and 75 percent of those drivers still get behind the wheel.
Often these drivers are suspended for reckless, dangerous, or drunken driving and are a menace to not only pedestrians like Noshat Nahian, the eight year old third grader at PS 152 who lost his life when he was hit by a tractor trailer while crossing Northern Boulevard at 61st Street, but also to other drivers on the road.
Licenses are suspended for a reason and suspending these license plates would keep dangerous drivers off the road.
Prior legislative history
2018: Died in Transportation 2017: Died in Transportation 2016: Died in Transportation 2015: Died in Transportation 2014: Died in Transportation
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
This act should take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 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.