NYS VTL Law

Article 34C - NY Vehicle and Traffic Law

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• Article 34C

S  1270. Effect  of  regulations.  1. The parent of any child and the
  guardian of any ward shall not authorize or knowingly  permit  any  such
  child or ward to violate any of the provisions of this article.
    2.   These  regulations  applicable  to  electric  personal  assistive
  mobility devices shall apply whenever  an  electric  personal  assistive
  mobility  device, pursuant to section twelve hundred seventy-one of this
  article, is operated upon any highway, upon private roads open to public
  motor vehicle traffic, upon any  designated  bicycle  or  in-line  skate
  lane.    Additionally,  if  the  governing body of any county not wholly
  included within a city, city with a population of less than one million,
  town or village which authorizes the use of electric personal  assistive
  mobility  devices  upon  any  place  not specifically authorized by this
  article,  such  as  sidewalks  these  regulations  shall  be  applicable
  thereon.

S  1271. Traffic  laws  apply  to persons operating electric personal
  assistive mobility devices; local laws.  1.  Except  in  cities  with  a
  population  of  one million or more and except as provided by local law,
  ordinance, order, rule or regulation enacted or promulgated pursuant  to
  subdivision two of this section, an electric personal assistive mobility
  device  may  only  be  operated on highways with a posted speed limit of
  thirty miles per hour or less, including non-interstate public highways,
  private roads open to motor vehicle traffic, and designated  bicycle  or
  in-line  skate  lanes.  Every  person  operating  an  electric  personal
  assistive mobility device upon a roadway shall be  granted  all  of  the
  rights  and  shall  be  subject  to  all of the duties applicable to the
  driver of a vehicle by this title, except as to special  regulations  in
  this  article  and  except as to those provisions of this title which by
  their nature can have no application; provided, however, that  when  the
  operator  of  an electric personal assistive mobility device is making a
  left turn at or crossing an intersection, such operator  shall  use  the
  designated crosswalk for such purpose.
    2.  (a)  The governing body of any county not wholly included within a
  city, city with a population of less than one million, town  or  village
  may,  by  local  law,  ordinance,  order,  rule  or  regulation, further
  regulate the time,  place  and  manner  of  the  operation  of  electric
  personal  assistive  mobility  devices  including authorizing the use of
  electric personal assistive mobility devices on sidewalks, and limiting,
  prohibiting entirely or prohibiting the use thereof in  specified  areas
  under the jurisdiction of such county not wholly included within a city,
  city with a population of less than one million, town or village.
    (b) The operation of electric personal assistive mobility devices in a
  city having a population of one million or more is prohibited.

S  1272. Operating electric personal assistive mobility devices. 1. No
  electric personal assistive mobility device shall be used to carry  more
  persons  at  one  time than the number for which such device is designed
  and  equipped.  No  person  operating  an  electric  personal  assistive
  mobility device shall carry any person as a passenger in a pack fastened
  to the operator or fastened to such device.
    2.  No  person  shall  operate an electric personal assistive mobility
  device outside during the period of time  between  one-half  hour  after
  sunset  and  one-half  hour before sunrise unless such person is wearing
  readily visible reflective clothing or material which is of a  light  or
  bright color.
    3.  No person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device
  shall carry any package, bundle or article which prevents  the  operator
  from  keeping  at least one hand upon the handle bars or which obstructs
  his or her vision in any direction.
    4. Every person operating  an  electric  personal  assistive  mobility
  device shall yield the right of way to pedestrians and motor vehicles.
    5.  Every  operator  of an electric personal assistive mobility device
  shall be sixteen years of age or older.
    6. No person shall operate an  electric  personal  assistive  mobility
  device in a state park or historic site.
    7.  If  the  governing body of any county not wholly included within a
  city, city with a population of less than one million, town  or  village
  shall  authorize the use of electric personal assistive mobility devices
  upon any sidewalk, such authorization shall  not  permit  the  operation
  thereof  at  a speed in excess of eight miles per hour. Additionally, if
  such authorization is granted,  no  operator  of  an  electric  personal
  assistive  mobility  device  shall  overtake  a pedestrian on a sidewalk
  unless there is adequate  space  for  the  personal  assistive  mobility
  device  to  pass  around  the  pedestrian  and  warning is given to such
  pedestrian through the audible device  defined  in  subdivision  two  of
  section twelve hundred seventy-five of this article.
    8. A first violation of the provisions of this section shall result in
  no  fine.  A second or subsequent violation shall result in a civil fine
  not to exceed fifty dollars.

S  1273. Clinging  to  vehicles.  1.  No person operating an electric
  personal assistive mobility device shall attach such device, or  himself
  or herself to any vehicle being operated upon a roadway.
    2. No vehicle operator shall knowingly permit any person to attach any
  electric  personal  assistive  mobility  device or himself or herself to
  such operator's vehicle in violation of subdivision one of this section.

S  1274. Riding  on  roadways,  shoulders  and  lanes  reserved  for
  non-motorized vehicles and devices. 1. Upon all roadways,  any  electric
  personal  assistive mobility device shall be operated either on a usable
  bicycle or in-line skate lane or, if a usable bicycle or  in-line  skate
  lane  has  not  been  provided,  near the right-hand curb or edge of the
  roadway or upon a usable right-hand shoulder in  such  a  manner  as  to
  prevent  undue  interference  with  the  flow  of  traffic  except  when
  preparing to enter into a crosswalk to turn  left  at  or  to  cross  an
  intersection or when reasonably necessary to avoid conditions that would
  make it unsafe to continue along near the right-hand curb or edge of the
  roadway.  Conditions to be taken into consideration include, but are not
  limited  to,  fixed  or  moving  objects,  vehicles,  bicycles,  in-line
  skaters,  pedestrians,  animals,  surface  hazards and traffic lanes too
  narrow for an electric personal assistive mobility device and a  vehicle
  to travel safely side-by-side within the lane.
    2. Persons operating electric personal assistive mobility devices upon
  a  roadway  shall  ride single file. Persons operating electric personal
  assistive mobility devices upon a shoulder,  bicycle  or  in-line  skate
  lane,  or  bicycle  or  in-line  skate  path,  intended  for  the use of
  bicycles, electric personal assistive mobility devices or in-line skates
  may ride two or more abreast if sufficient space  is  available,  except
  that  when  passing  a  vehicle,  bicycle,  electric  personal assistive
  mobility device, person on in-line  skates  or  pedestrian  standing  or
  proceeding along such shoulder, lane or path, persons operating electric
  personal assistive mobility devices shall operate such devices in single
  file.
    3. Any person operating an electric personal assistive mobility device
  who is entering the roadway from a private road, driveway, alley or over
  a curb shall come to a full stop before entering the roadway.

S  1275. Lamps  and  other  equipment.  1.  Every  electric  personal
  assistive mobility device when in use during the  period  from  one-half
  hour after sunset to one-half hour before sunrise shall be equipped with
  a  lamp on the front which shall emit a white light visible during hours
  of darkness from a distance of at least five hundred feet to  the  front
  and  with  a  red  light  visible to the rear for three hundred feet. At
  least one of these lights shall be visible for  two  hundred  feet  from
  each side.
    2.  No  person  shall  operate an electric personal assistive mobility
  device unless it is equipped with a bell  or  other  device  capable  of
  giving  a  signal  audible  for a distance of at least one hundred feet,
  except that such device shall not be equipped with nor shall any  person
  use upon such device any siren or whistle.
    3. Every electric personal assistive mobility device shall be equipped
  with  a  system  that  enables  the  operator  to  bring the device to a
  controlled stop.

S 1276. Operators to wear protective headgear. 1. No person shall ride
  upon,  propel  or  otherwise  operate  an  electric  personal  assistive
  mobility device unless such person is wearing a helmet meeting standards
  established  by  the  commissioner  pursuant  to   the   provisions   of
  subdivision  two-a of section twelve hundred thirty-eight of this title.
  As used in this subdivision, wearing a helmet means  having  a  properly
  fitting helmet fixed securely on the head of such wearer with the helmet
  straps securely fastened.
    2.  Any  person who violates the provisions of subdivision one of this
  section shall pay a civil fine not to exceed fifty dollars.
    3. The court shall waive any fine for which a person who violates  the
  provisions  of  subdivision  one of this section would be liable if such
  person supplies the court with proof that between the date of  violation
  and  the  appearance  date  for  such violation such person purchased or
  rented a helmet, which meets the requirements of subdivision one of this
  section, or if the court finds that due to reasons of economic  hardship
  such  person  was  unable  to  purchase a helmet or due to such economic
  hardship such person was unable to obtain a helmet  from  the  statewide
  in-line skate and bicycle helmet distribution program, as established in
  section two hundred six of the public health law or a local distribution
  program.  Such  waiver of fine shall not apply to a second or subsequent
  conviction under subdivision one of this section.
    4. The failure of any person to comply with  the  provisions  of  this
  section  shall  not  constitute contributory negligence or assumption of
  risk, and shall not in any way bar, preclude or foreclose an action  for
  personal injury or wrongful death by or on behalf of such person, nor in
  any way diminish or reduce the damages recoverable in any such action.
    5.  A  police  officer  shall  only issue a summons for a violation of
  subdivision one of this section by a person less than fourteen years  of
  age  to  the  parent or guardian of such person if the violation by such
  person occurs in the presence of such person's parent  or  guardian  and
  where  such  parent  or guardian is eighteen years of age or older. Such
  summons shall only be issued to such parent or guardian, and  shall  not
  be issued to the person less than fourteen years of age.

S  1277. Leaving  the  scene  of  an  incident  involving an electric
  personal assistive mobility device without reporting. 1. (a) Any  person
  eighteen  years of age or older operating an electric personal assistive
  mobility device who, knowing or having  cause  to  know,  that  physical
  injury,  as  defined  in  subdivision nine of section 10.00 of the penal
  law, has been caused to another person, due to  the  operation  of  such
  electric personal assistive mobility device by such person shall, before
  leaving  the place where such physical injury occurred, stop and provide
  his or her name and residence, including street and  street  number,  to
  the injured party, if practical, and also to a police officer, or in the
  event  that  no  police  officer is in the vicinity of the place of said
  injury,  then  such  person  shall  report  said  incident  as  soon  as
  physically able to the nearest police station or judicial officer.
    (b)  A  violation  of  paragraph  (a)  of  this subdivision shall be a
  violation.
    2. (a) Any person eighteen years of age or older operating an electric
  personal assistive mobility device who, knowing or having cause to know,
  that serious physical injury, as defined in subdivision ten  of  section
  10.00  of  the  penal law, has been caused to another person, due to the
  operation of such electric personal assistive mobility  device  by  such
  person  shall,  before  leaving  the  place  where such serious physical
  injury occurred, stop  and  provide  his  or  her  name  and  residence,
  including  street and street number, to the injured party, if practical,
  and also to a police officer, or in the event that no police officer  is
  in  the  vicinity  of  the  place of said injury, then such person shall
  report said incident as soon as physically able to  the  nearest  police
  station or judicial officer.
    (b)  A violation of paragraph (a) of this subdivision shall be a class
  B misdemeanor.

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