NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A349
SPONSOR: Rosenthal L
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to drugged
driving
 
PURPOSE:
This bill includes any drug or impairing substance in the list of drugs
for which one could be found guilty of drugged driving.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section amends section 114-a of the vehicle and traffic law.
Section two amends section 1193 of the vehicle and traffic law and adds
a new subparagraph 8. Section three sets forth the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Driving while under the influence of drugs is just as dangerous as driv-
ing while under the influence of alcohol. Despite this, efforts by law
enforcement and prosecutors to arrest and secure convictions against
dangerous drugged drivers are hampered because the list of drugs for
which a driver can be found impaired is limited. Expanding the list of
drugs to include all drugs that have the impact of impairing a driver's
ability to control a motor vehicle will provide law enforcement and
prosecutors with the tools they need to remove dangerous drivers from
the street and to better protect other users of the roads.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021-22: A.1346 - Referred to Transportation
2019-20: A.637 - Referred to Transportation
2017-18: A.5093 - Referred to Transportation
2015-16: A.7481 - Referred to Transportation
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This bill shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
349
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 6, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to drugged
driving
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 114-a of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by
2 chapter 92 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 114-a. Drug. The term "drug" when used in this chapter, means [and
4 includes any substance listed in section thirty-three hundred six of the
5 public health law and] cannabis and concentrated cannabis as defined in
6 section 222.00 of the penal law and any drug or impairing substance.
7 § 2. Paragraph (e) of subdivision 2 of section 1193 of the vehicle and
8 traffic law is amended by adding a new subparagraph 8 to read as
9 follows:
10 (8) Suspension pending prosecution; drug impairment. Except as
11 provided in clause a-1 of subparagraph seven of this paragraph, a court
12 shall suspend a driver's license, pending prosecution, of any person
13 charged with a violation of subdivision four or four-a of section eleven
14 hundred ninety-two of this article who, at the time of arrest, is
15 alleged to have been ability impaired by drugs.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00775-01-3