NY State Senate Bill 2023-S3602

Senate Bill S3602

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Includes in the class E felony of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of serious physical injury while operating a vehicle with suspended, revoked or no license

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Codes 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, 2024	referred to codes
Feb 01, 2023	referred to codes

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2023-S3602 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A6984
Current Committee:: Senate Codes
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§120.03 & 120.04, add §125.13-a, Pen L
Versions Introduced in Other Legislative Sessions:: 2013-2014: S6386, A8587
2015-2016: S2484, A3536
2017-2018: S3299, A3759
2019-2020: S2149, A863
2021-2022: S1228, A9703

2023-S3602 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Includes in the class E felony of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of serious physical injury while operating a vehicle with suspended, revoked or no license; creates the crime of vehicular homicide.

2023-S3602 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S3602

SPONSOR: MANNION
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to including within the
offense of vehicular assault in the second degree, the causing of seri-
ous injury while knowingly operating a motor vehicle with a revoked or
suspended license or while not holding a license and establishing the
offense of vehicular homicide

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to include in a class E felony of vehicular
assault in the second degree, the causing of serious physical injury or
death while operating a vehicle with suspended, revoked or no license,
and creates the crime of vehicular homicide, a class D felony.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of this bill would amend section 120.03 of the Penal Law to
provide that a person has committed vehicular assault in the second

degree when he or she causes serious physical injury to another person
by operation of a motor vehicle while knowing or having reason to know
that his or her license or privilege of operating a motor vehicle is
suspended or revoked pursuant to subdivision two or two-a of section
five hundred ten or subdivisions one or three of section five hundred
ten-a of the vehicle and traffic law for conduct relating to the opera-
tion of a motor vehicle; or he or she is not duly licensed.

Section 2 of this bill would amend the opening paragraph of section
120.04 of the Penal Law, limiting the crime of vehicular assault in the
first degree to only those actions listed in subdivision one of section
120.03 when such additional aggravating factors apply as provided in
section 120.04.

Section 3 of this bill would add a new section 125.16 to the Penal Law
creating the crime of vehicular homicide, providing that a person is
guilty of the crime when he or she causes the death of another person
while operating a motor vehicle while knowing or having reason to know
that his or her license or privilege of operating a motor vehicle is
suspended or revoked pursuant to subdivision two or two-a of section
five hundred ten or five hundred ten-a of the vehicle and traffic law
for conduct relating to the operation of a motor vehicle; or he or she
is not duly licensed.

Section 4 of this bill provides that the effective date shall take
effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a
law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In recent months, more attention has been paid to the fact that drivers
with suspended licenses in New York State are still getting behind the
wheel - and killing people. Ten percent of all crashes in New York are
caused by drivers with suspended or revoked licenses, and 75 percent of
those drivers still get behind the wheel.


In January 2018, 13-year-old Kevin Flores was biking home from school in
Ridgewood, Queens when he was killed by a truck driver. The driver had
his license nine times for traffic infractions and had bragged about it
on his Facebook page. The perpetrator in this case was arrested multiple
times in the past for the same offense and was still driving improperly.

It is illegal to drive a vehicle on a street or highway without a valid
driver's license. The right to operate a motor vehicle is granted by the
state, and its use depends upon the motorist complying with the condi-
tions prescribed in granting the license.

Currently, the most severe penalty a District Attorney can seek in such
instances is a misdemeanor. Even with aggravating circumstances, the
most severe offense is a class E felony, punishable by up to four years
in prison. Rarely are convicted drivers sentenced to any jail time at
all and are free to commit additional offenses.

While we cannot turn back the clock on past accidents due to driving
with a suspended license, we can make it more difficult for people to
engage in this activity in the future. We must redouble our efforts to
make our streets safer, including bringing chronically reckless drivers
to justice.

This bill would make it a class E felony for drivers who drive unli-
censed or with a revoked/suspended license to or seriously injure or a
class D felony to kill someone in the process. This bill would apply in
circumstances where the license suspension resulted from reckless driv-
ing behavior, not economic hardship.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-22: S.1228 (Gianaris) - Referred to Codes.

2019-20: S.2149 (Gianaris) - Referred to Codes.

2017-18: S.3299 (Gianaris) - Passed Senate.

2015-16: S.2484-A (Gianaris) - Passed Senate.

2013-14: S.6386 (Gianaris) - Defeated in Codes.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.

2023-S3602 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3602
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 1, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. MANNION -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law,  in  relation  to  including  within  the
   offense  of  vehicular  assault  in  the second degree, the causing of
   serious injury while  knowingly  operating  a  motor  vehicle  with  a
   revoked or suspended license or while not holding a license and estab-
   lishing the offense of vehicular homicide
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Section 120.03 of the penal law, as amended by chapter  732
 of the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows:
 § 120.03 Vehicular assault in the second degree.
   A  person  is guilty of vehicular assault in the second degree when he
 or she causes:
   1. serious physical injury to another person, and either:
   [(1)] (A) operates a motor vehicle in violation  of  subdivision  two,
 three,  four or four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the vehi-
 cle and traffic law or operates a vessel or public vessel  in  violation
 of  paragraph  (b), (c), (d) or (e) of subdivision two of section forty-
 nine-a of the navigation law, and as a result of  such  intoxication  or
 impairment  by  the use of a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs
 or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, operates such motor vehicle, vessel
 or public vessel in a manner that causes such serious physical injury to
 such other person, or
   [(2)](B) operates a motor vehicle with a gross vehicle  weight  rating
 of  more  than  eighteen  thousand  pounds which contains flammable gas,
 radioactive materials or explosives in violation of subdivision  one  of
 section  eleven  hundred  ninety-two of the vehicle and traffic law, and
 such flammable gas, radioactive materials or explosives is the cause  of
 such  serious physical injury, and as a result of such impairment by the

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08592-01-3
 S. 3602                             2

 
 use of alcohol, operates such motor vehicle in a manner that causes such
 serious physical injury to such other person, or
   [(3)]  (C) operates a snowmobile in violation of paragraph (b), (c) or
 (d) of subdivision one of section 25.24 of  the  parks,  recreation  and
 historic  preservation law or operates an all terrain vehicle as defined
 in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section twenty-two hundred eight-
 y-one of the vehicle and traffic law and  in  violation  of  subdivision
 two,  three, four, or four-a of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the
 vehicle and traffic law, and as a result of such intoxication or impair-
 ment by the use of a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs  or  of
 alcohol  and  any drug or drugs, operates such snowmobile or all terrain
 vehicle in a manner that causes such serious  physical  injury  to  such
 other person.
   If  it  is  established  that the person operating such motor vehicle,
 vessel, public vessel, snowmobile or all  terrain  vehicle  caused  such
 serious  physical injury while unlawfully intoxicated or impaired by the
 use of alcohol or a drug, then there shall be a  rebuttable  presumption
 that, as a result of such intoxication or impairment by the use of alco-
 hol  or  a drug, or by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and
 any drug or drugs, such  person  operated  the  motor  vehicle,  vessel,
 public vessel, snowmobile or all terrain vehicle in a manner that caused
 such  serious  physical  injury, as required by this [section.] SUBDIVI-
 SION; OR
   2. SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY TO ANOTHER PERSON, WHILE OPERATING A  MOTOR
 VEHICLE,  KNOWING OR HAVING REASON TO KNOW THAT HIS OR HER LICENSE TO OR
 PRIVILEGE TO OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE IS SUSPENDED OR REVOKED PURSUANT TO
 SUBDIVISION TWO OR TWO-A OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED TEN OR SUBDIVISION  ONE
 OR  THREE  OF  SECTION FIVE HUNDRED TEN-A OF THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW
 FOR CONDUCT RELATING TO THE OPERATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, OR KNOWING  OR
 HAVING  REASON TO KNOW THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT LICENSED TO OPERATE A MOTOR
 VEHICLE ON A PUBLIC HIGHWAY PURSUANT TO THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW.
   Vehicular assault in the second degree is a class E felony.
   § 2. The opening paragraph of section 120.04  of  the  penal  law,  as
 amended  by  chapter  496  of  the  laws  of 2009, is amended to read as
 follows:
   A person is guilty of vehicular assault in the first degree when he or
 she commits the crime of vehicular  assault  in  the  second  degree  as
 defined  in  SUBDIVISION  ONE  OF  section  120.03  of this article, and
 either:
   § 3. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 125.13-a to read
 as follows:
 § 125.13-A VEHICULAR HOMICIDE.
   A PERSON IS GUILTY OF VEHICULAR HOMICIDE WHEN HE  OR  SHE  CAUSES  THE
 DEATH  OF  ANOTHER  PERSON,  WHILE OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE, KNOWING OR
 HAVING REASON TO KNOW THAT HIS OR HER LICENSE TO OR PRIVILEGE TO OPERATE
 A MOTOR VEHICLE IS SUSPENDED OR REVOKED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION  TWO  OR
 TWO-A OF SECTION FIVE HUNDRED TEN OR SUBDIVISION ONE OR THREE OF SECTION
 FIVE  HUNDRED  TEN-A OF THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW FOR CONDUCT RELATING
 TO THE OPERATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, OR KNOWING OR HAVING REASON TO KNOW
 THAT HE OR SHE IS NOT LICENSED TO OPERATE A MOTOR VEHICLE  ON  A  PUBLIC
 HIGHWAY PURSUANT TO THE VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW.
   VEHICULAR HOMICIDE IS A CLASS D FELONY.
   § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
 it shall have become a law.

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