Senate Bill S4971

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Relates to breath chemical tests for the purpose of determining the alcoholic and/or drug content of the blood

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Current 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

Do you support this bill?

Please enter your contact information

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.
Actions

2025-S4971 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Senate Transportation
Law Section:
Vehicle and Traffic Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §1194, V & T L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:
S6461

2025-S4971 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Requires a police officer to provide the consequences of refusal to submit to a chemical test for the purpose of determining the alcoholic and/or drug content of the blood, both orally and in writing in such person's preferred language, and by an interpreter if necessary.

2025-S4971 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S4971 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4971
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 14, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  BAILEY -- 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  chemical
   tests for the purpose of determining the alcoholic and/or drug content
   of the blood

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The opening paragraph of paragraph (a) of subdivision 2  of
 section  1194  of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 196
 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
   When authorized. Any person who operates a motor vehicle in this state
 shall be deemed to have given consent to a chemical test of one or  more
 of  the  following:  breath, blood, urine, or saliva, for the purpose of
 determining the alcoholic and/or drug content of the blood provided that
 such test is administered by or at the direction  of  a  police  officer
 with  respect  to  a  chemical  test of breath, urine or saliva or, with
 respect to a chemical test of blood, at the direction of a police  offi-
 cer  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT A POLICE OFFICER SHALL, AFTER AN ORAL AND A
 WRITTEN EXPLANATION IN THE PREFERRED  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  DRIVER,  BY  AN
 INTERPRETER  IF  NECESSARY,  OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF REFUSAL TO TAKE SUCH
 TEST:
   § 2. Subparagraphs 1 and 2  of  paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  2  of
 section  1194  of the vehicle and traffic law, subparagraph 1 as amended
 by chapter 489 of the laws of 2017, clause (A)  of  subparagraph  1  and
 subparagraph 2 as amended by chapter 27 of the laws of 2018, are amended
 to read as follows:
   (1)  If: (A) such person having been placed under arrest; or (B) after
 a breath test indicates the presence of alcohol in the person's  system;
 or  (C)  with  regard to a person under the age of twenty-one, there are
 reasonable grounds to believe that such  person  has  been  operating  a
 motor  vehicle  after  having  consumed  alcohol in violation of section
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD09115-01-5
              

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.