STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3459
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 27, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to injury of
domestic and companion animals by motorists
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 1146 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by
2 chapter 333 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 1146. Drivers to exercise due care. (a) Notwithstanding the
4 provisions of any other law to the contrary, every driver of a vehicle
5 shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist, pedestri-
6 an, [or] domestic animal, or companion animal upon any roadway and shall
7 give warning by sounding the horn when necessary. For the purposes of
8 this section, the term "domestic animal" shall mean domesticated sheep,
9 cattle, and goats which are under the supervision and control of a
10 pedestrian; and the term "companion animal" means any dog or cat, and
11 shall also mean any other domesticated animal normally maintained in or
12 near the household of the owner or person who cares for such other
13 domesticated animal.
14 (b) 1. A driver of a motor vehicle who causes physical injury as
15 defined in article ten of the penal law to a pedestrian [or], bicyclist,
16 domestic animal or companion animal while failing to exercise due care
17 in violation of subdivision (a) of this section, shall be guilty of a
18 traffic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred
19 dollars or by imprisonment for not more than fifteen days or by both
20 such fine and imprisonment.
21 2. If such driver of a motor vehicle causes physical injury while
22 failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of this
23 section, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a result
24 of such failure to exercise due care, such person operated the motor
25 vehicle in a manner that caused such physical injury.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01383-01-5
S. 3459 2
1 (c) 1. A driver of a motor vehicle who causes serious physical injury
2 as defined in article ten of the penal law to a pedestrian [or], bicy-
3 clist, or companion animal while failing to exercise due care in
4 violation of subdivision (a) of this section, shall be guilty of a traf-
5 fic infraction punishable by a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty
6 dollars or by imprisonment for not more than fifteen days or by required
7 participation in a motor vehicle accident prevention course pursuant to
8 paragraph (e-1) of subdivision two of section 65.10 of the penal law or
9 by any combination of such fine, imprisonment or course, and by suspen-
10 sion of a license or registration pursuant to subparagraph (xiv) or (xv)
11 of paragraph b of subdivision two of section five hundred ten of this
12 chapter.
13 2. If such driver of a motor vehicle causes serious physical injury
14 while failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of
15 this section, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a
16 result of such failure to exercise due care, such person operated the
17 motor vehicle in a manner that caused such serious physical injury.
18 (d) A violation of subdivision (b) or (c) of this section committed by
19 a person who has previously been convicted of any violation of such
20 subdivisions within the preceding five years, shall constitute a class B
21 misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars
22 in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
23 (e) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the court from
24 imposing any other authorized disposition, including a period of commu-
25 nity service.
26 § 2. Section 601 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter
27 795 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
28 § 601. Leaving scene of injury to certain animals without reporting.
29 Any person operating a motor vehicle which shall strike and injure any
30 horse, dog, cat or animal classified as cattle shall stop and endeavor
31 to locate the owner or custodian of such animal or a police, peace or
32 judicial officer of the vicinity, and take any other reasonable and
33 appropriate action so that the animal may have necessary attention, and
34 shall also promptly report the matter to such owner, custodian or offi-
35 cer (or if no one of such has been located, then to a police officer of
36 some other nearby community), exhibiting [his or her] such person's
37 license and insurance identification card for such vehicle, when such
38 card is required pursuant to articles six and eight of this chapter,
39 giving [his or her] such person's name and residence, including street
40 and street number, insurance carrier and insurance identification infor-
41 mation and license number. In addition to the foregoing, any such person
42 shall also: (i) (A) produce the proof of insurance coverage required
43 pursuant to article forty-four-B of this chapter if such person is a TNC
44 driver operating a TNC vehicle at the time of the incident who was (1)
45 logged on to the TNC's digital network but not engaged in a TNC prear-
46 ranged trip or (2) was engaged in a TNC prearranged trip; and (B)
47 disclose whether [he or she] such person, at the time such incident
48 occurred, was (1) logged on to the TNC's digital network but not engaged
49 in a TNC prearranged trip or (2) was engaged in a TNC prearranged trip,
50 or (ii) (A) produce the proof of insurance coverage required pursuant to
51 article forty of the general business law if such person is a shared
52 vehicle owner or shared vehicle driver operating a shared vehicle during
53 a peer-to-peer car sharing period while the incident occurred; and (B)
54 disclose whether [he or she] such person, at the time such incident
55 occurred, was operating a shared vehicle during a peer-to-peer car shar-
56 ing period. Violation of this section shall be punishable by a fine of
S. 3459 3
1 not more than [one] five hundred dollars for a first offense and by a
2 fine of not less than [fifty] two hundred nor more than [one] seven
3 hundred fifty dollars for a second offense and each subsequent offense;
4 provided, however where the animal that has been struck and injured is a
5 guide dog, hearing dog or service dog, as such terms are defined in
6 section forty-seven-b of the civil rights law which is actually engaged
7 in aiding or guiding a person with a disability, a violation of this
8 section shall be punishable by a fine of not less than two hundred fifty
9 nor more than [one] five hundred fifty dollars for a first offense and
10 by a fine of not less than [one] three hundred fifty dollars nor more
11 than [three] seven hundred fifty dollars for a second offense and each
12 subsequent offense.
13 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
14 have become a law.
