What's happening
This bill amends vehicle and traffic law to allow court-ordered compulsory chemical tests for suspected impaired drivers, removing the requirement that serious injury or death must have occurred.
Why it matters
Expands police and prosecutors’ ability to obtain court-ordered chemical tests. now, a judge can order a blood, breath, or urine test from a suspected impaired driver without needing to prove anyone was killed or seriously injured, making it easier to collect evidence in a wider range of DWI cases.
Increases potential consequences for refusing chemical tests. drivers who refuse such tests may face swifter legal and administrative penalties, since law enforcement can more readily seek a court order to compel testing even when no accident or injury has occurred.
May deter impaired driving and refusals. by lowering the threshold for compulsory testing, the bill aims to make it harder for suspected drunk or drug-impaired drivers to avoid detection, potentially strengthening DWI enforcement and prosecution.
Raises civil liberties and privacy considerations. the removal of the serious injury or death requirement means more people could be subject to invasive chemical testing by court order, prompting debates about balancing public safety with individual rights.
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Who cares
Police officers and district attorneys
The bill would let them seek court orders compelling chemical tests without requiring that someone other than the driver was killed or seriously injured.
Drivers arrested on suspicion of impaired driving
Drivers who refuse testing or cannot consent could face court-ordered chemical tests even when no one else was killed or seriously injured.
Judges handling chemical-test applications
Courts would consider applications without the death-or-serious-injury requirement, while still requiring reasonable cause and a lawful arrest.
Police officers documenting test refusals
The bill would require refusal reports even when a court-ordered test is administered and remove the requirement that reports state no such test was given.
Headline styles
Force DUI Suspects’ Chemical Tests
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
6093
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
May 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KAMINSKY -- 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 compulsory chemical tests
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 3 of section 1194 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 47 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:
(b) When authorized. Upon refusal by any person to submit to a chemical test or any portion thereof as described above, the test shall not be given unless a police officer or a district attorney, as defined in subdivision thirty-two of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, requests and obtains a court order to compel a person to submit to a chemical test to determine the alcoholic or drug content of the person's blood upon a finding of reasonable cause to believe that:
(1) [such person was the operator of a motor vehicle and in the course of such operation a person other than the operator was killed or suffered serious physical injury as defined in section 10.00 of the penal law; and
(2)] a. either such person operated the vehicle in violation of any subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article, or
b. a breath test administered by a police officer in accordance with paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section indicates that alcohol has been consumed by such person; and
[(3)] (2) such person has been placed under lawful arrest; and
[(4)] (3) such person has refused to submit to a chemical test or any portion thereof, requested in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (a) of subdivision two of this section or is unable to give consent to such a test.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11542-01-9
S. 6093 2
§ 2. Subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 1194 of the vehicle and traffic law, subparagraph 1 as amended by chapter 489 of the laws of 2017, clause (A) of subparagraph 1 and subparagraph 2 as amended by chapter 27 of the laws of 2018, are amended to read as follows:
(1) If: (A) such person having been placed under arrest; or (B) after a breath test indicates the presence of alcohol in the person's system; or (C) with regard to a person under the age of twenty-one, there are reasonable grounds to believe that such person has been operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol in violation of section eleven hundred ninety-two-a of this article; and having thereafter been requested to submit to such chemical test and having been informed that the person's license or permit to drive and any non-resident operating privilege shall be immediately suspended and subsequently revoked, or, for operators under the age of twenty-one for whom there are reasonable grounds to believe that such operator has been operating a motor vehicle after having consumed alcohol in violation of section eleven hundred ninety-two-a of this article, shall be revoked for refusal to submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof, whether or not the person is found guilty of the charge for which such person is arrested or detained, refuses to submit to such chemical test or any portion thereof, [unless a court order has been granted pursuant to subdivision three of this section, the test shall not be given and] a written report of such refusal shall be immediately made by the police officer before whom such refusal was made. Such report may be verified by having the report sworn to, or by affixing to such report a form notice that false statements made therein are punishable as a class A misdemeanor pursuant to section 210.45 of the penal law and such form notice together with the subscription of the deponent shall constitute a verification of the report.
(2) The report of the police officer shall set forth reasonable grounds to believe such arrested person or such detained person under the age of twenty-one had been driving in violation of any subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two or eleven hundred ninety-two-a of this article[,] and that said person had refused to submit to such chemical test[, and that no chemical test was administered pursuant to the requirements of subdivision three of this section]. The report shall be presented to the court upon arraignment of an arrested person, provided, however, in the case of a person under the age of twenty-one, for whom a test was authorized pursuant to the provisions of subparagraph two or three of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, and who has not been placed under arrest for a violation of any of the provisions of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article, such report shall be forwarded to the commissioner within forty-eight hours in a manner to be prescribed by the commissioner, and all subsequent proceedings with regard to refusal to submit to such chemical test by such person shall be as set forth in subdivision three of section eleven hundred ninety-four-a of this article.
§ 3. Subparagraph 2 of paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section 1194 of the vehicle and traffic law, as added by chapter 47 of the laws of 1988, is amended to read as follows:
(2) The applicant must provide identification by name and title and must state the purpose of the communication. Upon being advised that an application for a court order to compel submission to a chemical test is being made, the court shall place under oath the applicant and any other person providing information in support of the application as provided
S. 6093 3
in subparagraph three of this paragraph. After being sworn the applicant must state that the person from whom the chemical test was requested was the operator of a motor vehicle and [in the course of such operation a person, other than the operator, has been killed or seriously injured and], based upon the totality of circumstances, there is reasonable cause to believe that such person was operating a motor vehicle in violation of any subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two of this article and, after being placed under lawful arrest such person refused to submit to a chemical test or any portion thereof, in accordance with the provisions of this section or is unable to give consent to such a test or any portion thereof. The applicant must make specific allegations of fact to support such statement. Any other person properly identified, may present sworn allegations of fact in support of the applicant's statement.
§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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 compulsory chemical tests
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to provide necessary tools to law enforce- ment to test individuals who are reasonably suspected of driving under the influence.
Summary of provisions
The bill amends section 1194 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law to allow application to a court to compel compliance with a chemical test where a motorist is reasonably suspected to be under the influence and where the driver has refused a chemical test.
Justification
Under current law, New York's implied consent law states that a person who operates a motor vehicle in the state shall be deemed to have given consent to a chemical test for the purpose of determining if they are driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. However, motorists also have the ability to refuse a chemical test. If a motorist refuses a chemical test, their driver licenses will be revoked. Given the choice of a fine and period of revocation or providing substantial evidence of one's guilt in what could be a criminal matter, it is no surprise that many times a motorist refuses to submit to a chemical test.
Presently, the authority to apply to a court for an order to compel submission to a chemical test exists only in situations of death or serious injury. Meaning many drivers who are clearly intoxicated are not submitted to a blood test. The scientific analysis of a person's blood alcohol content can be very powerful evidence in the hands of a prosecu- tor and not limiting this tool only endangers drivers. This bill would address this loophole by allowing applications to the court where a motorist refuses to submit to a chemical test where there is reasonable cause to believe the motorist is under the influence even though there was no death or serious injury. This change would give real teeth to the current implied consent law in New York and would assist law enforcement in cracking down on drunk driving.
Legislative history
2013-14: Passed Senate (S757) 2011-12: Passed the Senate (S.3768B)
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.