S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  4311

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                             April 21, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sens. DeFRANCISCO, LARKIN, MORAHAN, PADAVAN, RANZENHOFER,
  SEWARD, YOUNG -- read twice and ordered printed, and when  printed  to
  be  committed to the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and
  Recreation

AN ACT to amend the navigation law, in relation to increasing the penal-
  ties for persons leaving the  scene  of  a  boating  accident  without
  making a report

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 2 of section 47 of the naviga-
tion law, as added by chapter 587 of the laws of  2003,  is  amended  to
read as follows:
  (b)  The  first  violation  of the provisions of paragraph (a) of this
subdivision involving personal injury to another person shall constitute
a class [B] A misdemeanor punishable by a fine  of  not  less  than  two
hundred  fifty  nor  more  than  five hundred dollars in addition to any
other penalties provided by  law.  Any  subsequent  violation  involving
personal  injury to another person after a conviction for a violation of
such paragraph within the preceding five years shall constitute a  class
[A  misdemeanor]  E  FELONY  punishable  by a fine of not less than five
hundred nor more than one thousand dollars  in  addition  to  any  other
penalties  provided  by  law.  Any  violation  of the provisions of this
subdivision, other than the mere failure of a vessel operator to provide
the name and address of  the  vessel  owner  and/or  the  identification
number  of  the  vessel,  where  the personal injury involved results in
death or serious physical injury, as defined in  section  10.00  of  the
penal  law,  or  where  a  person has disappeared under the water as the
result of the incident shall constitute a class [E] D felony.
  S 2. Subdivision 2 of section 73-c of the navigation law,  as  amended
by chapter 320 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows:

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD05045-02-9

              

S. 4311                             2

  2. Every person convicted of a violation for a violation of any of the
provisions  of  this  article  or of any ordinance, order, rule or regu-
lation adopted pursuant to this article for which another penalty is not
provided shall for a first conviction thereof [be punished] CONSTITUTE A
CLASS  B  MISDEMEANOR  PUNISHABLE by a fine of not less than one hundred
nor more than two hundred fifty dollars [or by imprisonment for not more
than seven days or by both such fine and imprisonment]  IN  ADDITION  TO
ANY  OTHER  PENALTIES  PROVIDED  BY  LAW;  for  a conviction of a second
violation, both of which were committed within a period  of  twenty-four
months,  such  [person  shall be punished] CONVICTION SHALL CONSTITUTE A
CLASS A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE by a fine of not less  than  two  hundred
fifty nor more than five hundred dollars [or by imprisonment of not more
than  fifteen days or by both such fine and imprisonment] IN ADDITION TO
ANY OTHER PENALTIES PROVIDED BY LAW; upon a conviction for  a  third  or
subsequent  violation,  all  of  which were committed within a period of
twenty-four months, such [person] CONVICTION shall [be punished] CONSTI-
TUTE A CLASS E FELONY PUNISHABLE by a fine of not less than five hundred
nor more than one thousand dollars [or by imprisonment for not more than
thirty days or by both such fine and imprisonment] IN  ADDITION  TO  ANY
OTHER PENALTIES PROVIDED BY LAW.
  S  3.  Section  47-b of the navigation law, as added by chapter 587 of
the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:
  S 47-b. Report to  the  commissioner  required  upon  accident.  Every
person  operating  a vessel, including, but not limited to, rowboats and
canoes, upon the navigable waters of the state, or on any  other  waters
within  the  boundaries of the state, which is in any manner involved in
an accident, in which any person is killed, injured or disappears  under
the water, or in which damage to the property of any one person, includ-
ing  himself  or herself, in excess of one thousand dollars is sustained
shall, within five days after such accident, report the matter in  writ-
ing  to  the commissioner. If the owner is not involved in such accident
or is incapacitated, the owner shall, within five days after learning of
the facts of such  accident,  report  the  matter  to  the  commissioner
together with such information as may have come to the owner's knowledge
relating to such accident. Every such operator of a vessel, or surviving
participant in any such accident, or the owner of the vessel involved in
any  such  accident, shall make such other and additional reports as the
commissioner may require. A violation of this section shall constitute a
[violation] CLASS A MISDEMEANOR punishable by a fine of  not  less  than
twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars. Nothing contained in this
section  shall  be  deemed to supersede the provisions of section forty-
seven of this article.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
ing the date on which it shall have become a law.