BILL NUMBER: S8300

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to permitting
the exchange of drivers licenses from certain countries

 
PURPOSE:

To allow individuals who have obtained their driver's license from a
Caribbean country to convert it to a New York State driver's license.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill adds subdivision 1-a to § 502 of the vehicle and
traffic law to direct the commissioner of the department of motor vehi-
cles to accept as valid for proof of identification, age, and examina-
tion a driver's license issued by Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba,
Bahamas, Barbados, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands,
Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guya-
              

na, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinque, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint
Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Eustatius, Saint Maarten, Trinidad and
Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United
States. This section also provides that an individual who has been
issued a license by one of the aforementioned countries shall be issued
a New York state driver's license provided the individual passes the
written and vision tests, the license is valid or has expired within the
past six months, states the date it was issued and issued at least six
months prior to the date of application, and has not been suspended,
revoked, lost, or stolen.

Section two of the bill provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

According to the US Census, over 4.4 million immigrants live in New
York. A significant percentage of the immigrant population emigrated
from a Caribbean county. According to Wadabagei, a Journal of the Carib-
bean and Its Global Diasporas, in New York City alone, the people born
in a Caribbean country make up 20.8 percent of the foreign-born popu-
lation.

Many of these immigrants have moved to New York in search of a better
life for themselves and their loved ones. Because driving is a necessity
in every practical sense, one of the ways New York can help Caribbean
immigrants is by giving them the opportunity to convert the license they
have obtained from their home country to a New York State driver's
license. Currently, if a person moves to New York State from another
country, in order to obtain a New York State driver's license they must
get a learner's permit and pass a road test, just like an individual who
had never had a driver's license. Other states, such as New Jersey and
Connecticut, allow immigrants to convert their driver's license by
requiring little more than the passage of a written test. New York
should help the Caribbean immigrant population by allowing them to
convert their driver's license to a New York State driver's license.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2017-2018: A.8204 - Referred to Transportation

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.