5% Insurance Discount for NY Drivers Proposed by Lawmakers

Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman and New York State Senator Jose Peralta have introduce legislation that would give New York drivers a 5% auto insurance discount for having a dash camera installed in their car. This would only apply to non-commercial drivers, not truckers and other people driving a vehicle on the job.

5% Insurance Discount NY DashCams
“We held a news conference this morning with Sen. Stavisky and AM Alicia Hyndman to push for a bill that will provide insurance premium discounts for cars with operating dashboard cameras installed” said Senator Peralta on his Twitter

“We must ensure that we use available technologies to promote safety,”…“With a dashboard camera installed in your car, you can provide footage in case of hit-and-runs and accidents. You can also fight a ticket, and you can even capture footage of unrelated events as you drive.” said NY Senator Jose Peralta.

Senator Jose also believes dashcams can help prevent insurance fraud, which is very common in other parts of the world that have widely adopted dash cameras.

“Plus if motorists feel that they’re being taped by a dash cam, then maybe, just maybe they will think twice before engaging in reckless driving or leaving the scene of an accident” said Senator Jose.

If the bill passes, New York state will be the first in the US to require insurance companies to provide a reduced rate for non-commercial drivers who has a dash cam installed in their vehicle.

Amazon DashCams

Proposed Bill in its entirety:

BILL NO    A10392

SPONSOR    Hyndman

Amd §2336, add §5110, Ins L; amd §§301 & 375, add §322, V & T L; add §4549, CPLR; add §60.80, CP L

Provides for a 5% automobile insurance premium reduction for non-commercial passenger motor vehicles equipped with an operating dashboard camera; establishes means for certification of the installation of such camera; establishes civil penalties for false certification of such installation; provides for insurer review during claims settlement of the images from dashboard cameras; provides for the certification of the installation of operating dashboard cameras during the annual motor vehicle inspection; directs the commissioner of motor vehicles to establish standards for dashboard cameras; and provides for the introduction as evidence of dashboard camera images into evidence in civil and criminal proceedings.

Introduced  by M. of A. HYNDMAN — read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Insurance

AN ACT to amend the insurance law, the  vehicle  and  traffic  law,  the
civil  practice  law  and  rules,  and  the criminal procedure law, in
relation to dashboard cameras

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
bly, do enact as follows:

1    Section  1.  Section  2336 of the insurance law is amended by adding a
2  new subsection (i) to read as follows:
3    (i) (1) Any schedule or rating plan for non-commercial private passen-
4  ger insurance shall provide for a  five  percent  reduction  in  premium
5  charges for bodily injury liability, property damage liability, personal
6  injury  protection, medical payments and collision coverage with respect
7  to automobiles equipped with an operating dashboard camera that complies
8  with the rules and regulations of the  commissioner  of  motor  vehicles
9  promulgated  pursuant  to subdivision fifty-two of section three hundred
10  seventy-five of the vehicle and traffic law.  Each insurer may establish
11  such requirements as it shall deem necessary for the submission of proof
12  and certification that such a dashboard camera has been installed in the
13  insured automobile and that such camera is in operating  condition.  The
14  superintendent  shall,  in  consultation  with the commissioner of motor
15  vehicles, promulgate rules and regulations.
16    (2) In any instance in which  an  insured  is  receiving  the  premium
17  reduction  provided  in paragraph one of this subsection and the insured
18  has falsely certified that his or her automobile  is  equipped  with  an
19  operating dashboard camera or the dashboard camera is no longer in oper-
20  ating  condition while the automobile is being operated, the insurer may
21  impose a civil penalty upon such insured equal to the premium  reduction
22  granted  for  the  dashboard  camera for one year or for the period such
23  reduction was wrongfully granted, whichever shall be  shorter.  Further-
24  more,  an  insurer  may  thereafter  deny  the provision of such premium
25  reduction regardless of whether a suitable dashboard camera is installed
26  in the automobile in the future.

EXPLANATION–Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14226-03-6

A. 10392                            2

1    (3) Every insurer shall include in each certification completed by  an
2  insured  pursuant  to  this subsection, a statement of the imposition of
3  the civil penalty authorized by paragraph two of this subsection in  the
4  event  such  certification is false. In addition each such certification
5  shall  inform  the  insured of his or her duty to maintain the dashboard
6  camera in working condition at all times.
7    § 2. The insurance law is amended by adding a new section 5110 to read
8  as follows:
9    § 5110. Review of dashboard camera images. (a) Every  insurer  in  the
10  settlement  of  any  claim  involving a motor vehicle or motor vehicles,
11  shall review any available images from a dashboard camera  or  dashboard
12  cameras  installed  in  any of the vehicles to which such claim relates.
13  Thereafter, each such insurer shall submit certification of such  review
14  to the superintendent.
15    (b)  The  images  from a dashboard camera shall be considered based on
16  the totality of the circumstances of a claim, and such images shall  not
17  be  deemed  to  be  dispositive,  but  shall  be considered as any other
18  evidence relating to a claim.
19    § 3. Subdivision (c) of section 301 of the vehicle and traffic law  is
20  amended by adding a new paragraph 4 to read as follows:
21    (4)(i)  During  the  course  of  each  safety  inspection, a certified
22  inspector shall determine whether a dashboard camera is installed in the
23  motor vehicle. In the event that such a camera is installed in  a  motor
24  vehicle, he or she shall determine whether the dashboard camera complies
25  with  the rules and regulations of the commissioner promulgated pursuant
26  to subdivision fifty-two of section three hundred seventy-five  of  this
27  title  and whether such camera is in operating condition while the motor
28  vehicle is being operated.
29    (ii) In the event a motor vehicle does not have  a  dashboard  camera,
30  has  a  camera which does not comply with the rules of the commissioner,
31  or such camera is not in operating condition,  the  certified  inspector
32  shall  include a notation, that the motor vehicle does not have an oper-
33  ating dashboard camera, upon the certificate of inspection  provided  to
34  the owner and the department.
35    (iii)  In the event a motor vehicle has an operating dashboard camera,
36  which complies with the rules and regulations of the  commissioner,  the
37  certified inspector shall issue a certification thereof to the owner and
38  the department.
39    §  4.  The  vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
40  322 to read as follows:
41    § 322. Dashboard camera records. Upon the request of any insurer issu-
42  ing owner’s policies of  liability  insurance,  the  commissioner  shall
43  forward  to  such  insurer a copy of any report, relating to a dashboard
44  camera installed in a motor vehicle insured by the  insurer,  which  the
45  commissioner  possesses pursuant to paragraph four of subdivision (c) of
46  section three hundred one of this title.
47    § 5. Section 375 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a
48  new subdivision 52 to read as follows:
49    52. Dashboard cameras. The commissioner  shall,  by  rules  and  regu-
50  lations, establish standards for the size, location and use of dashboard
51  cameras  installed  in  motor  vehicles. The commissioner may maintain a
52  list of those dashboard cameras approved by him or her as conforming  to
53  the specifications and requirements established for such cameras.
54    §  6.  The  civil  practice  law  and rules is amended by adding a new
55  section 4549 to read as follows:

A. 10392                            3

1    § 4549. Dashboard camera images. Any image or  images  produced  by  a
2  dashboard camera shall be admissible as proof of the occurrence or event
3  depicted in such image or images.
4    §  7.  The  criminal  procedure law is amended by adding a new section
5  60.80 to read as follows:
6  § 60.80 Dashboard camera images.
7    Any image or images produced by a dashboard camera shall be admissible
8  as proof of the occurrence or event depicted in such image or images.
9    § 8. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
10  ing the date on which it shall have become a law and section one of this
11  act  shall  apply  to all policies issued, renewed, modified, altered or
12  amended on or after such date. Provided, however, that, effective  imme-
13  diately, any and all rules and regulations and any other measures neces-
14  sary  to  implement the provisions of this act on its effective date are
15  authorized and directed to be completed on or before such date.