NY State Senate Bill 2017-S7117

Senate Bill S7117

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to penalties for drivers using portable electronic devices while driving within five hundred feet of a school zone

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Transportation Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Actions

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 03, 2018	referred to transportation

2017-S7117 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Transportation
Law Section:: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §1225-d, V & T L

2017-S7117 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases penalties for drivers using portable electronic devices while driving within five hundred feet of a school zone.

2017-S7117 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7117

SPONSOR: AVELLA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to penalties for drivers using portable electronic devices
while driving within five hundred feet of a school zone

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to increase penalties, and therefore
decrease the use, of portable electronic devices while driving within
five hundred feet of a school zone.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of this bill amends section 1225-d of the vehicle and traffic
law by adding a new subdivision 7 which creates a new category of
violation for using a portable electronic device while driving within
five hundred feet of a school zone. Persons who commit such an infrac-
tion will be liable to pay a fine of two hundred dollars upon conviction
of a first violation, three hundred dollars upon conviction of a second

violation, and five hundred dollars upon a conviction of a third or
subsequent violations.

Section 2 of this bill states that this act shall take effect sixty days
after it shall have become a law

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Distracted driving, mainly when using portable electronic devices such
as cellular phones, is an ongoing problem in our state. When this
dangerous behavior takes place in a school zone, it puts the lives of
children, teachers, and parents at risk.

A new study published by Zendrive underscores the importance of creating
additional penalties to curb this behavior specifically in school zones.
The study discovered that one in three drivers are engaged in unsafe
behavior while driving in a school zone. Further, the study found that
three counties in New York State are amongst the worst in the country
for distracted driving in school zones.

Several states across the country have already enacted laws to curb this
behavior, including Illinois and Texas. It is imperative that New York
join these states to ensure that the roads around our schools are safe.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect sixty days after it shall have become a law

2017-S7117 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7117
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 3, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  AVELLA -- 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  penalties
   for  drivers  using  portable  electronic devices while driving within
   five hundred feet of a school zone

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 1225-d of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
 adding a new subdivision 7 to read as follows:
   7. (A) NOTWITHSTANDING SUBDIVISION SIX OF THIS SECTION, A VIOLATION OF
 THIS  SECTION  WHILE  DRIVING  WITHIN FIVE HUNDRED FEET OF A SCHOOL ZONE
 SHALL BE A TRAFFIC INFRACTION AND SHALL BE PUNISHABLE BY A FINE  OF  TWO
 HUNDRED DOLLARS UPON CONVICTION OF A FIRST VIOLATION; UPON CONVICTION OF
 A  SECOND VIOLATION, SUCH VIOLATION SHALL BE PUNISHED BY A FINE OF THREE
 HUNDRED DOLLARS; UPON CONVICTION OF A  THIRD  OR  SUBSEQUENT  VIOLATION,
 SUCH VIOLATION SHALL BE PUNISHED BY A FINE OF FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS.
   (B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION, "SCHOOL ZONE" SHALL MEAN THE
 DISTANCE  ALONG A HIGHWAY PASSING A SCHOOL BUILDING, ENTRANCE OR EXIT OF
 A SCHOOL ABUTTING ON THE HIGHWAY FOR WHICH A SCHOOL SIGN (S1-1) HAS BEEN
 POSTED PURSUANT TO THIS CHAPTER AND IN COMPLIANCE  WITH  THE  MANUAL  ON
 UNIFORM  TRAFFIC  CONTROL DEVICES MAINTAINED PURSUANT TO SECTION SIXTEEN
 HUNDRED EIGHTY OF THIS CHAPTER.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.
 
 
 
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13505-01-7

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