NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8929
SPONSOR: Paulin
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
rear occupant alert systems in certain vehicles
 
PURPOSE:
To require vehicles manufactured after July 1, 2026 and sold or offered
for sale in New. York as a new vehicle to be registered in this state to
be equipped with a rear occupant alert system.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law to add
subdivision 55 making it unlawful for any person, firm, association or
corporation to sell a new motor vehicle in New York after July 1, 2026
unless it is equipped with a rear occupant alert system. This section
further authorizes the commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations
relative to rear occupant alert systems.
Section 2 provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In the past twenty-five years, nearly one thousand children have died of
heatstroke because they were left or became trapped in a hot car
(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Even on cool days,
temperatures within parked cars can rise significantly within a short
period of time. On average, a car can heat up 19 degrees Fahrenheit in
just ten minutes. A child's body temperature rises three to five times
faster than that of an adult, making them especially vulnerable to heat
stoke when left or trapped inside of a car.
The unfortunate truth is that many children who die from heatstroke are
left in a car by their parent or caregiver. Often, this occurs due to
what neuroscientist David M. Diamond has described as the "Fatal
Distraction." Essentially, parents will drive somewhere that they often
go alone, such as work, and go into "autopilot mode and lose awareness
of the child in the back seat." If the child is silent or sleeping in
the back of the car, the parent may walk into the office without realiz-
ing that the child is still there. Rear occupant alert systems would
directly address instances of the "fatal distraction" by sounding an
alarm when the presence of a child or pet is detected in the car.
Rear occupant alert technology currently exists which can notify drivers
and nearby persons that there is a child or pet closed within a parked
vehicle. Many auto manufacturers have successfully introduced the tech-
nology in newer models of their vehicles. This legislation would require
vehicles sold to be registered in New York and assembled after July 1,
2026 to be equipped with life-saving rear occupant alert technology to
detect the presence of a child or pet in a parked car.
Heat stroke deaths of children and pets are avoidable. This legislation
would ensure that in newly manufactured vehicles there is a system in
place to alert parents and caregivers when someone is left trapped in
the car and combat the too frequent instances of death or permanent
injury from heatstroke.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8929
IN ASSEMBLY
January 30, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
rear occupant alert systems in certain vehicles
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 55 to read as follows:
3 55. Rear occupant alert systems. (a) It shall be unlawful after July
4 first, two thousand twenty-six for any person, firm, association or
5 corporation to sell or offer for sale in this state a new motor vehicle
6 which is to be registered in this state and which was manufactured or
7 assembled on or after such date, and designed as a two thousand twenty-
8 seven or later model, unless such vehicle is equipped with a rear occu-
9 pant alert system. For the purposes of this subdivision, "rear occupant
10 alert system" shall mean technology that detects the presence of an
11 occupant such as a child or pet in the rear seat of a vehicle after the
12 vehicle has been turned off and which alerts the driver of such pres-
13 ence.
14 (b) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations relative
15 to rear occupant alert systems on motor vehicles and the approval of the
16 same as are not inconsistent with the provisions of federal law, rule or
17 regulation, relating thereto. This subdivision shall not apply to motor-
18 cycles, a commercial motor vehicle as defined in section two of the
19 transportation law, or a combination of a commercial motor vehicle and
20 trailer.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
22 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14066-01-4