What's happening
This bill raises the minimum age for ATV safety certification and unsupervised operation from ten to fourteen years old.
Why it matters
Increases the age requirement for ATV safety certification from 10 to 14, delaying when minors can legally complete and receive this certification. This could reduce the number of younger children operating ATVs, potentially lowering accident rates among this age group.
Limits unsupervised ATV operation to those 14 and older who have completed the safety course,. which means children under 14 can only operate ATVs on land owned or leased by their parents/guardians and only under adult supervision, further restricting opportunities for younger independent riders.
Removes the prior allowance for supervised operation by a certified 16-year-old,. tightening requirements so that only adults 18+ can supervise minors, aiming to ensure more mature oversight and possibly greater safety.
May impact ATV-related family activities, youth recreation programs, and rural communities,. since families with children aged 10–13 will need to adapt to the new age limits and supervision rules, potentially affecting how and when younger teens participate in ATV use.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Raise ATV Driving Age
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to transportation
- Returned to senate
- Died in assembly
- Referred to transportation
- Delivered to assembly
- Passed senateVote 40–22
- Ordered to third reading cal.1553
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Referred to transportation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Raise ATV Age for Minors
Assembly Floor Calendar · Sponsor Amy Paulin
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
5035
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 4, 2019
Introduced by Sen. HARCKHAM -- 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 operation of all-terrain vehicles by minors
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 2409 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 402 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:
2. Safety certificate. Upon successful completion of a safety course given in conformity with subdivision one of this section by a person [ten] fourteen years of age or over, the person or entity which gave the course shall notify the commissioner of such completion in a manner prescribed by the commissioner. The commissioner shall, upon receipt of such information, issue an ATV safety certificate to the person who has successfully completed the course. Such certificate may be limited to the type of vehicle for which the course was given.
§ 2. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 2410 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 402 of the laws of 1986, are amended to read as follows:
1. Except as provided by subdivision two of this section, no person under the age of sixteen years shall operate an ATV except upon lands owned or leased by his or her parent or guardian, unless he or she is under general supervision of a person eighteen years of age or over [or a person sixteen years of age or over who holds an ATV safety certificate]. "Leased lands" as herein used shall not include lands leased by an organization of which said operator or his or her parent or guardian is a member.
2. A person [ten] fourteen years of age but less than sixteen years of age who has received safety training as prescribed by the commissioner and has received the appropriate ATV safety certificate issued by the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD09896-03-9
S. 5035 2
commissioner may operate an ATV in the same manner as a person who is sixteen years of age or older.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth 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 operation of all-terrain vehicles by minors
Purpose
To raise the age of ATV operators to fourteen years of age, in certain circumstances.
Summary of specific provisions
Section one of the bill amends Section 2409(2) of Article 48C of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law to change the age of completing an ATV safety course and earning an ATV safety certificate from ten years of age to fourteen years of age.
Read the full memo (622 words)
Section 2 of the bill amends Section 2410 (1) and (2) to eliminate the possibility of a sixteen year old with an ATV safety certificate super- vising a minor operating an ATV and to change the age of legal operation of an ATV by a minor from ten years of age to fourteen years of age, under certain circumstances.
Section 3 provides the effective date.
Justification
Recent serious accidents and fatalities involving minors operating All- Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) have highlighted the need to enact legislation. In a study published by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, which looked at accidents involving individuals eighteen and under between the years 2004 and 2014, 75% of the ATV fatalities were victims between the ages of ten and fourteen. During this period, over 30,000 children age fourteen and under went to emergency rooms for ATV-related injuries, including fractured bones, head and facial injuries.
ATVs, depending on the particular model, can weigh 600 pounds or more, and reach speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour. Machines of this size and speed are not suitable for young children to operate. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, operating ATVs is especially dangerous for young children, given their smaller size and relative immaturity; in addition the group believes that children are "not developmentally capa- ble of operating these heavy, complex machines."
This legislation amends the Vehicle and Traffic Law and makes several changes to promote greater ATV safety and prevent tragedies involving minors. First, the allowable age to receive an ATV safety certificate will be raised from the current ten years to fourteen years or older. Currently, children as young as ten are permitted to earn an ATV safety certificate from the Department of Motor Vehicles by taking an approved safety course. Next, in relation to the operation of an ATV, children under sixteen will only be allowed to operate an ATV on public land, as permitted by section 2403 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law, as long as they are supervised by someone eighteen years or older. They would no longer be permitted to be supervised in the alternative by someone over sixteen who holds an ATV safety certificate. In addition, the bill rais- es to fourteen years old from the current ten the age at which a minor who has received a safety certificate may operate an ATV in the same manner as someone who is sixteen or older, meaning without supervision and on any area of land that is permissible for those sixteen and older. The Legislature must take steps to protect young children, whose inexpe- rience and lack of understanding of the potential dangers associated with ATV riding make them a vulnerable population. Raising the age to receive a safety certificate and operate an ATV in the same manner as a sixteen year old, as well as removing the provision in the law allowing for supervision by someone sixteen or older who has a safety certificate will help to prevent senseless accidents and deaths.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth 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.