Authorizes drivers to disobey a traffic-control device or signal, after exercising reasonable care, in order to yield the right of way to an authorized…

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why the sponsor says this is needed

New York law clearly states that, after exercising due care, a driver must make all efforts to provide emergency vehicles with an unimpeded right of way when the emergency vehicle has its lights flashing. This is perfectly logical public safety measure and it's something that is understood by all drivers. However, there is a common permutation of this rule that is not explicitly accounted for by the law: what to do when you are stopped at a red light and an ambulance is urgently trying to get through. The answer for most drivers is obvious, if you are unable to otherwise move out of the way, you check to ensure that you can safely move through the intersection, and let the ambulance pass. However, not only is it unclear that drivers are permitted to do the obvious, but they may even be hit with a red light camera ticket for doing the right thing. The Yonkers Parking Violation Bureau takes a commonsense interpretation of the law, stating on its website that: "You must move your vehicle out of the way for emergency vehicles as per NYS law. If you do and there is a red light camera at the intersection, you will NOT receive a violation if you had to move through the red light to get out of the way of an emergency vehicle." However, th ere is actually nothing in the law that explicitly supports this conclusion, so drivers in other municipalities are faced with the cost and inconvenience of contesting violations for doing exactly what they should do under the circumstances. This legislation fixes this oversight, by making it explicit that a driver may disobey a traffic signal when he or she can do so safely when an emergency vehicle with its flashing lights acti- vated needs to get through. At least five states-Delaware, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, and Mary- land-already have laws on the books making yielding to emergency vehi- cles a statutory defense to red light camera tickets. This bill will also require municipalities to give drivers an easy way to appeal red light tickets issued under these circumstances, so that people won't be unnecessarily burdened for doing what's right. LEGISLATIVEHISTORY: 2013/2014: S.7948 2015/2016: S.1303A 2017/2018: S.355-Passed Senatein 2017 2019/2020: S.4834-Referred to Transportation Committee 2021/2022: S.3685-Referred to Transportation Committee 2023/2024: S.1377-Referred to Transportation Committee

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.