2006 New York Code - Safety Belts And Anchorage Assemblies

 
    § 383. Safety   belts   and  anchorage  assemblies.  1.  Safety  belts
  required.  No motor vehicle shall be sold or registered  in  this  state
  and  no motor vehicle registered in this state shall be operated in this
  state unless such vehicle is equipped with safety belts approved by  and
  conforming to standards established by the commissioner as follows:
    (a)  A  motor  vehicle manufactured or assembled after June thirtieth,
  nineteen hundred sixty-four and designated as a 1965 or later model,  at
  least two safety belts for the front seat;
    (b)  A  motor  vehicle manufactured or assembled after June thirtieth,
  nineteen hundred sixty-six and designated as a 1967 or later  model,  at
  least one safety belt for the rear seat for each passenger for which the
  rear seat of such vehicle was designed;
    (c)  A  motor  vehicle  manufactured  or assembled on or after January
  first, nineteen hundred sixty-eight, at least one safety belt  for  each
  passenger seat position.
    2.  Anchorage assemblies. No motor vehicle shall be sold or registered
  in this state unless such motor vehicle is  equipped  with  safety  belt
  assembly   anchorages   conforming   to  standards  established  by  the
  commissioner for each safety belt required in  such  motor  vehicle.  In
  addition,   no  motor  vehicle  manufactured  or  assembled  after  June
  thirtieth, nineteen hundred sixty-two shall be  sold  or  registered  in
  this  state  unless  such  motor  vehicle  is  equipped with safety belt
  assembly  anchorages  conforming  to  standards   established   by   the
  commissioner for two safety belts for the front seat of such vehicle.
    3.  Sale  of  safety  belts. No safety belt shall be sold for use in a
  motor vehicle, or installed in a motor vehicle unless such  safety  belt
  is   approved   by,   and  conforms  to  standards  established  by  the
  commissioner.
    4. Safety belts required in certain used motor  vehicles.  No  person,
  firm,  association  or corporation engaged in the business of selling or
  leasing used motor vehicles, shall sell or lease any used motor  vehicle
  manufactured   or  assembled  after  June  thirtieth,  nineteen  hundred
  sixty-two and designated as a 1963 or subsequent year model unless  such
  motor  vehicle  is  equipped with two safety belts for the front seat of
  such motor vehicle. This provision shall not  apply  to  motor  vehicles
  sold at wholesale or for junk.
    4-a.   Driver   seat   safety   belts   for  certain  motor  vehicles.
  Notwithstanding any other  provisions  of  this  chapter,  it  shall  be
  unlawful  for  the owner of a bus as defined in section one hundred four
  of this chapter and manufactured on or  after  January  first,  nineteen
  hundred   sixty-five  or  a  motor  vehicle  used  for  the  purpose  of
  transporting children to and from public or private  schools  to  permit
  such  vehicle  to  be  used for such purpose unless the driver's seat on
  such vehicle is  equipped  with  a  seat  safety  belt  of  a  type  and
  specifications  as  approved  by the commissioner of motor vehicles. Any
  owner who permits a motor vehicle to be  operated  without  such  safety
  belt  or  any  person who operates a motor vehicle and fails to use such
  safety belt shall be in violation of the provisions of this  subdivision
  and shall be guilty of an infraction, punishable by a fine not exceeding
  fifty dollars.
    4-b.  Taxicabs  and  liveries.  All  seat  safety belts installed in a
  taxicab or livery vehicle pursuant to  this  section  shall  be  clearly
  visible,  accessible  and  maintained in good working order, and no seat
  safety belt installed in such taxicab or livery vehicle shall be removed
  therefrom.
    5. (a) Passenger seat safety belts for school buses. Every school bus,
  as  defined  in  section  one  hundred  forty-two   of   this   chapter,
  manufactured  for  use  in  this state on and after July first, nineteen
  hundred eighty-seven, shall be designed so that all passenger  seats  on
  such vehicle are equipped with seat safety belts and increased seat back
  padding  on  passenger  seats of a type and specification as approved by
  the  commissioner  of  transportation  through the adoption of rules and
  regulations. Such rules and regulations  shall  provide  that  when  any
  contactable surface of the school bus, as specified in the Federal Motor
  Vehicle  Safety  Standard,  49 CFR Section 571.222, is impacted from any
  direction at twenty-two feet per second by  the  head  form,  the  axial
  acceleration  at  the  center  of gravity of the head form shall be such
  that the head form impact requirement shall not exceed eight hundred.
    (b) Passenger seat safety belts for existing school buses. Any  school
  bus  as  defined in section one hundred forty-two of this chapter, which
  is scheduled for retrofitting pursuant to action by a board of education
  or board of trustees under section thirty-six hundred  thirty-five-a  of
  the  education  law  shall be retrofitted so that all passenger seats on
  such vehicles are equipped with seat safety belts and additional padding
  of  a  type  and  specification  as  approved  by  the  commissioner  of
  transportation through the adoption of rules and regulations. Such rules
  and  regulations  shall provide that when any contactable surface of the
  school bus as specified in the Federal Motor  Vehicle  Safety  Standard,
  49CFR  Section 571.222 is impacted from any direction at twenty-two feet
  per second by the head form, the axial acceleration  at  the  center  of
  gravity  of  the  head  form  shall  be  such  that the head form impact
  requirement  shall  not   exceed   eight   hundred.   Furthermore,   the
  commissioner  shall  have  the  power  through  rules and regulations to
  exempt certain design school buses from retrofitting. In  granting  such
  exemptions,  the  commissioner shall consider safety factors, structural
  integrity of the school buses and any other items  deemed  necessary  to
  preserve  the  safety and welfare of the school bus passengers. Provided
  further however  that  the  commissioner  of  transportation  shall  not
  authorize  retrofitting  of  any  school bus manufactured prior to April
  first, nineteen hundred seventy-seven.
    6.  Regulations.  The  Commissioner  shall  establish  by   regulation
  standards  for  safety  belts, safety belt anchorage assemblies, and the
  installation of safety belts in motor  vehicles.  The  commissioner  may
  also  by  regulation  exclude  certain  motor vehicles or types of motor
  vehicles from the requirements of this  section.  The  commissioner  may
  prescribe the method of securing approval of safety belts.