Hoylman to New York State DMV: Stop Unlawfully Penalizing NYC Cyclists

State Senator Brad Hoylman is asking the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles to stop issuing improper fines and adding drivers license points for bicycling tickets.

Hoylman also wants DMV to refund money to cyclists who were wrongly fined, and rescind points that should not have been attached to their licenses.

In an August “Street Justice” column, attorney Steve Vaccaro reported that the DMV online ticket payment system does not distinguish between bikes and motor vehicles. This means that cyclists who plead guilty and pay traffic tickets online are billed an $88 surcharge that doesn’t apply to bike violations, and get points on their drivers licenses that don’t legally apply.

The DMV acknowledged in a letter to Vaccaro that the agency was violating the law, and agreed to refund the improper surcharge for two of Vaccaro’s clients, but did not indicate that it would do the same for other cyclists, or change its procedures going forward.

Hoylman, who represents a large swath of Manhattan, is the ranking member of the Senate Investigations and Government Operations Committee. Hoylman wrote in a September 2 letter to DMV Commissioner Barbara J. Fiala [PDF]:

I am asking that DMV immediately end the practice of unlawfully charging bicyclists surcharge fees and levying points on their driver licenses, and that the agency alter its online payment system and pre-printed traffic summons forms to clearly reflect bicyclists’ exemption from surcharge fees and driver license points.

Hoylman also asked that DMV supply his office with data on how many cyclists were illegally billed and penalized with license points in the last five years, and that DMV “immediately refund any such overpayments and rescind improperly levied points.”