NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1292
SPONSOR: Zebrowski TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law and the penal law, in
relation to increasing fines and penalties for passing a stopped school
bus
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Provides for increased monetary penalties for passing a school bus and
applies criminal penalties to those who injure or kill a person while
doing so.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends 1174 of the vehicle and traffic law, as
it relates to increasing fines and penalties for passing a stopped
school bus.
Section two of the bill amends section 120.04-a of the penal law as it
relates to including injuring a person while passing a stopped school
bus to the aggravated vehicular assault statute.
Section three of the bill amends section 125.10 of the penal law as it
relates to including causing the death of a person while passing a
stopped school bus to the criminal negligent homicide statute.
Section four of the bill relates to the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The National Highway Transportation Administration reports that each
year, an average of 11 passengers under the age of 19 die in school bus
accidents. Most of the most serious injuries and deaths occur when chil-
dren are hit by a school bus or by passing motorists while getting on or
off the bus.
More than 25 children each year die in pedestrian accidents involving
school buses. In fact, three times as many children are killed in school
bus accidents while getting on or off the bus than while riding it.
Pedestrians account for more than 40 percent of school bus-related
fatalities. Many of these injuries occur when children are boarding or
exiting the school bus, due to the driver's "blind spot," which extends
approximately 10 feet around the bus.
These statistics clearly demonstrate the importance of strengthening
penalties against those who illegally pass a school bus, and especially
for those that injure another person while doing so.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.3933 of 2019-20
A.1207 of 2017-18,
A.7130 of 2015-16,
A.8600 of 2013-14
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
