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.
“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.
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.