NY State Senate Bill 2021-S770

Senate Bill S770

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs, impairing substances or combined use of drugs and alcohol

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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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to transportation
Jan 06, 2021	referred to transportation

2021-S770 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Transportation
Law Section:: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:: Add §119-c, amd §1192, V & T L; amd §3380, Pub Health L
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:: S6092

2021-S770 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of drugs, impairing substances or combined use of drugs and alcohol; defines the term "inhalant".

2021-S770 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S770

SPONSOR: KAMINSKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the public health law,
in relation to driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or
combined use of drugs, impairing substances and alcohol

 
PURPOSE:

To expand the definition of driving while ability impaired to include
inhalants and other impairing substances.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends section 119-c of the Vehicle and Traffic law to define
an inhalant.

Section 2 amends section 1192 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law to include
other impairing substances and inhalants to the description of driving

while ability impaired by drugs and the combined offense.

Section 3 amends the public health to expand the definition of hazardous
inhalants.

Section 4 adds a new subdivision to the Vehicle and Traffic law to
create an affirmative defense for operators who suffer medical emergen-
cies.

Section 5 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The CDC estimates that 130 Americans die every day from an opioid over-
dose. In New York, there were 3,224 opioid-related overdoses.  Most of
these deaths were caused by synthetic opioids. In 2017, 2,238 people
died of overdosing on synthetic opioids, which was up from the 210
deaths in 2013. Synthetic drugs also passed prescription opioids as the
most common drugs involved in overdose deaths in the United States.

Increased use of inhalants and synthetic drugs also means people are
more likely to drive while under the influence of these illicit drugs.
According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, in 2017, 21.4 million
people drove under the influence of alcohol and 12.8 million drove under
the influence of illicit drugs. Further, estimates show that 44% of
drivers in fatal crashes tested positive for drugs. Even with these
facts, experts still find it difficult to calculate how many crashes
occur because an individual is under the influence of drugs, including
synthetic drugs or inhalants.

New York has repeatedly taken steps to keep people safe by removing
intoxicated drivers from the road. Yet our state has failed to update
our laws to include the use of synthetic drugs and inhalants.  Current-
ly, prosecutors do not have the necessary tools to charge drivers who
use these substances while driving while intoxicated even though these
drugs cause impaired motor functions and judgment. It is important that
our laws change to address these new drugs so that our courts can prop-
erly prosecute impaired drivers.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020: S6092A (Kaminsky), died in Transportation.

2019: S6092A died on the calendar.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day.

2021-S770 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    770
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 6, 2021
                                ___________
 
 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 and the public  health  law,
   in relation to driving a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or
   combined use of drugs, impairing substances and alcohol
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
 section 119-c to read as follows:
   §  119-C.  INHALANT.    ANY  SUBSTANCE SET FORTH IN SUBDIVISION ONE OF
 SECTION THIRTY-THREE HUNDRED EIGHTY OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
   § 2. Subdivisions 4 and 4-a of section 1192 of the vehicle and traffic
 law, subdivision 4 as added by chapter 47 of the laws of 1988 and subdi-
 vision 4-a as added by chapter 732 of the laws of 2006, are  amended  to
 read as follows:
   4. Driving while ability impaired by drugs OR IMPAIRING SUBSTANCES. No
 person shall operate a motor vehicle while the person's ability to oper-
 ate  such a motor vehicle is impaired by the use of a drug as defined in
 this chapter, OR BY MARIHUANA OR TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL, OR BY THE  VOLUN-
 TARY  INGESTION OF ANY OTHER CHEMICAL, INHALANT, PHARMACEUTICAL OR OTHER
 IMPAIRING SUBSTANCE OR COMBINATION OF SUBSTANCES,  DRUGS,  MARIHUANA  OR
 TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL.
   4-a.  Driving  while  ability  impaired  by  the combined influence of
 [drugs or of] alcohol and any drug [or], drugs OR IMPAIRING  SUBSTANCES.
 No  person  shall  operate a motor vehicle while the person's ability to
 operate such motor vehicle is impaired  by  the  combined  influence  of
 [drugs  or  of alcohol and any drug or drugs] ALCOHOL AND A DRUG, DRUGS,
 AS DEFINED IN THIS CHAPTER, MARIHUANA  OR  TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL,  OR  IN
 COMBINATION  WITH  THE  VOLUNTARY INGESTION OF ANY OTHER CHEMICAL, INHA-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD01141-01-1

 S. 770                              2
 
 LANT, PHARMACEUTICAL OR OTHER  IMPAIRING  SUBSTANCE  OR  COMBINATION  OF
 SUBSTANCES.
   §  3.  Paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision 1 of section 3380 of the public
 health law, as amended by chapter 234 of the laws of 1985, is amended to
 read as follows:
   (b) As used in this section hazardous inhalants shall mean and include
 HALOGENATED  HYRDOCARBONS  INCLUDING  DIFLUOROENTHLENE,  OR  ANY  GASES,
 INCLUDING  NITROUS  OXIDE  AND  any  of  the  preparations  of compounds
 containing one or more of the chemical compounds[;]: amyl nitrite, isoa-
 myl nitrite, butyl nitrite, isobutyl  nitrite,  pentyl  nitrite  or  any
 other  [akyl] ALKYL nitrite compound that is either designed to be used,
 or commonly used, as an inhalant.
   § 4. Section 1192 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by  adding
 a new subdivision 13 to read as follows:
   13.  IT SHALL BE AN AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSE TO A CHARGE UNDER SUBDIVISIONS
 FOUR AND FOUR-A OF THIS SECTION THAT THE  OPERATOR  SUFFERED  A  MEDICAL
 EMERGENCY  RATHER THAN BEING IMPAIRED BY THE SUBSTANCE OR COMBINATION OF
 SUBSTANCES, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT NO DEFENSE SHALL BE AVAILABLE IF ANY
 SUCH INGESTED SUBSTANCE IS CONTAINED IN SECTION THIRTY-THREE HUNDRED SIX
 OR SECTION THIRTY-THREE HUNDRED EIGHTY OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH LAW.
   § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that this act  shall  not
 apply to any offense committed before such date.

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