BILL NUMBER: S2265
SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring
certain child passengers in a taxi or livery to be restrained by a child
restraint system
 
PURPOSE:
To require that children under eight years of age are secured in an
appropriate car seat or booster seat while riding in a taxi or limou-
sine.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one amends subdivision 3-c of section 1229-c of the vehicle and
traffic law by adding two new paragraphs, (d) and (e), which provide
that no person under four years of age and no person four years of age
or older but under age eight shall be a passenger in a taxi or livery
unless such person is restrained in a child restraint system.
Section two amends Subdivision 5 of section 1229-c of the vehicle and
traffic law by adding paragraph (e) of subdivision three-c of that
section to the listed paragraphs, such that in any prosecution or
proceeding alleging a violation of that paragraph it shall be an affir-
mative defense that the passenger subject to the requirements of such
paragraph was restrained by a safety belt and measures more than four
feet nine inches in height and/or weighs more than one hundred pounds,
and by adding paragraph (d) and paragraph (e) of subdivision three-c of
that section to the listed paragraphs, such that in any prosecution or
proceeding alleging a violation of either of those paragraphs, it shall
be an affirmative defense that such taxi or livery was in violation of
subdivision four-b of section three hundred eighty-three of that chap-
ter.
Section three provides the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2020 a package of limousine safety measures was enacted, which
required that all passengers over the age of eight must be restrained by
a safety belt before a person can operate a,taxi or livery. This bill
will fill the gap for children younger than eight years of age by
requiring them to be restrained by the appropriate child restraint
system while riding in a taxi or livery.
The CDC reports that using age- and size-appropriate car and booster
seats can decrease the likelihood of serious injury and death by 50
percent. New York State has long recognized the importance of car seats
and booster seats by requiring that children under eight are secured in
an appropriate child restraint system when riding as passengers in regu-
lar cars. This bill will ensure that the smallest and most vulnerable
passengers, children under 8 years of age, are in a car seat regardless
of the type of car they ride in.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.890 of 2023-2024 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Transportation
A.1626 of 2023-2024 (Paulin): Died in Transportation
S.8020 of 2021-2022 (Hoylman): Died in Transportation
A.6188 of 2021-2022 (Paulin): Died in Transportation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.

Statutes affected:
S2265: 1229-c vehicle and traffic law, 1229-c(5) vehicle and traffic law