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Article 34C - NY Vehicle and Traffic Law
OPERATION OF ELECTRIC PERSONAL ASSISTIVE MOBILITY DEVICES
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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