Enacts "Shawn's law"; requires persons driving on a state expressway route, state interstate route, or state thruway route to pull over and seek assistance if their vehicle is unable to exceed thirty-five miles per hour; requires the division of state police to conduct an accident reconstruction and create a report in the case of certain accidents resulting in a fatality.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7931
SPONSOR: Bronson TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the executive law, in
relation to enacting "Shawn's law"
PURPOSE:
This legislation requires a person driving on a state expressway or
thruway to pull over and seek assistance if their vehicle is unable to
exceed thirty-five miles per hour, and well as require the superinten-
dent to establish an accident reconstruction policy for accidents that
results in a fatality.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 Title of the bill.
Section 2. Amends• section 1181 of the vehicle and traffic law by adding
a new subdivision (c)that will require a driver whose vehicle is not
able to maintain a speed of thirty-five miles per hour must safely pull
.seek over and assistance.
Section 3. Amends section of the executive law to require the super-
intendent of the state police to establish an accident reconstruction
policy that results in a fatality.
Section 4. Effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In December 2017 Shawn Kruse was traveled back to Rochester, New York to
retrieve his family after a holiday visit with his mother and father.
Unfortunately, Mr. Kruse never reunited with his family as he was
involved in,a collision with a tractor-trailer. A post-accident investi-
gation showed that the tractor-trailer driver was traveling at extreme
low sped, low fuel level and losing power while failing to use his emer-
gency flashers. The results were tragic for Shawn's family. This legis-
lation is a safer approach to dealing with a vehicle experiencing
mechanical failure by requiring the driver to stop and seek assistance.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A8233-A 2023-2024
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7931
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the executive law, in
relation to enacting "Shawn's law"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 "Shawn's law".
3 § 2. Section 1181 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding
4 a new subdivision (c) to read as follows:
5 (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any
6 person driving a motor vehicle that is unable to exceed a speed of thir-
7 ty-five miles per hour on a state expressway route as designated and
8 described pursuant to section three hundred forty-c of the highway law,
9 state interstate route as designated and described pursuant to section
10 three hundred forty-a of the highway law, or state thruway route, as
11 designated and described pursuant to section three hundred forty-nine-a
12 of the highway law, shall pull over to a usable right-hand shoulder, if
13 available, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or
14 in compliance with law pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section, and
15 seek assistance.
16 § 3. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 214-j to
17 read as follows:
18 § 214-j. Accident reconstruction policy. The superintendent shall
19 establish an accident reconstruction policy under which the division of
20 state police shall be required to conduct an accident reconstruction and
21 create an accident reconstruction report in the case of any motor vehi-
22 cle accident that results in a fatality occurring on a state expressway
23 route as designated and described pursuant to section three hundred
24 forty-c of the highway law, state interstate route as designated and
25 described pursuant to section three hundred forty-a of the highway law,
26 or state thruway route, as designated and described pursuant to section
27 three hundred forty-nine-a of the highway law.
28 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06041-01-5
