Wednesday Headlines: Teddy Bear Edition

State lawmakers passed and Gov. Hochul signed the chief budget bill responsible for transportation yesterday, commonly known as TED. It’s a dense and expansive document, but there were a few key takeaways:

Hochul completed her Big Tech-funded, industry-backed reforms of the auto insurance industry. Despite pushback from lawmakers who saw the proposal as nothing more than lip service that would strip crash victims of some of their legal rights, rather than the rebuke of rampant fraud and runaway lawsuits the governor sold it as, she got just about everything she wanted.

Streetsblog has tracked the legislation religiously, and the key takeaway for New Yorkers is that if they are involved in a car crash, it will be harder to seek damages. The budget narrows the definition of serious injury by removing a class of victims who are unable to resume daily activities for 90 of the 180 days following a crash. That change matters because a serious injury lets New Yorkers sue for pain and suffering.

Crash victims (pedestrians and drivers) who are found 51 percent or more responsible for a crash will get no compensation.

Payouts for pain and suffering will be capped at $100,000 for uninsured motorists, which could be someone borrowing a car. This lumps them in with drunk drivers and motorists in the process of committing a felony.

The governor attempted to remove the practice of parties involved in a crash who are less than 50 percent liable paying more than their share of a jury award, following a crash, called joint and several liability. It’s in place to make sure that victims are made whole if the party mostly at fault for a crash doesn’t have enough coverage to pay out the award. Lawmakers managed to remove this part of the proposal during negotiations.

They also added new requirements and regulations for insurers, such as barring them from using consumer data like occupation status or profession, education level obtained, homeownership status or ZIP code when setting premiums. The practice of “flex rates”, or automatic premium increases up to 5 percent by insurers, is over. Companies have to explain these increases to the state Department of Financial Services each time.

Lawmakers also passed a version of the Stop Super Speeders Act that will let New York City create a pilot program that forces the recidivist speeders to install intelligent speed assistance devices that cap their cars’ speeds close to the listed speed limit.

Traffic scofflaws who incur school zone speed camera violations 16 times or more in 12 months would get notices from the city Department of Transportation informing them they need to purchase and install the so-called intelligent speed assistance devices to prevent cars from exceeding the speed limit. If the drivers do not install the devices, they risk having the state Department of Motor Vehicles revoke their registration. 

In final budget language, the intelligent speed assistance devices will have to remain inside the offender’s car or cars for 12 months after a first offense, but that escalates to 24 months for a second offense in 10 years, 36 months for a third offense in 15 years and a fourth offense mandates an indefinite installation.

But drivers will also have to install the devices on all vehicles registered under their name, which would prevent the abuse of family cars or similar arrangements, and the DMV would also be allowed to deny registration changes if it suspects the sole purpose is to evade installation of the devices. 

The cost of installing the intelligent speed devices, as well as the hardware itself, can easily run $1,500, so most programs have drivers rent them. In the event they still cannot afford the cost, the city will offer interest-free payment plans or even completely free devices to lower-income New Yorkers. 

Drivers who are sent a notice asking them to install the devices will have the ability to contest the order in court.

The state will also make it easier to develop bike and pedestrian trails in New York by exempting the construction process from the state Environmental Quality Review Act if it takes place on previously disturbed land – shorthand for land that has been altered or worked on by humans in the past.

This speeds up the development process by removing the need for extensive environmental review, but it also closes the door on lawsuits that delay projects or saddle them with legal fees so high that developers give up.

Stay tuned for everything else coming out of the state house that affects New Yorkers’ ability to get around!

More news:

• State lawmakers passed more budget legislation than just what we have been diligently tracking, with climate law changes prompting some protest votes. Critics say that New York will no longer be a leader in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (Newsday, State of Politics, The New York Times)
• Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has never faced a test as tough as a run for governor. (Newsday)
• Former Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou is campaigning for a Manhattan state Senate seat. (NY1)
• In fact, there state legislative primaries across the state that are worth keeping an eye on. (City & State)
• And at the congressional level, North Country voters in both parties are considering who they want to run to replace Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-North Country) on their behalf. (WAMC)
• A 75-year-old male bicyclist was airlifted to a hospital after he a car driver hit him in Greenlawn (Newsday)
• Two former opponents have now endorsed Cait Conley’s campaign for the 17th Congressional District’s Democratic nomination. (Judge Street Journal)
• amNY’s editorial board said it’s a team effort to stop subway surfing.
• Long Island drag racers were nabbed on Long Island. (The New York Post)
• Political appetite for reparations in New York has dipped as a statewide panel continues to meet. (WSKG)
• Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island) and other federal lawmakers want to kill a “slush fund” they fear President Trump can use to defend his supporters. (State of Politics)
• Ithaca plans to repave 45 blocks this month. (Ithaca Times)
• The Canadian travel boycott continues. (WAMC)