§ 1146 — Drivers to exercise due care

New York § 1146

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law VAT: Vehicle & Traffic
• Title 7: Rules of the Road
• Art. 26: Right of Way

Text

§ 1146. Drivers to exercise due care. (a) Notwithstanding the\nprovisions of any other law to the contrary, every driver of a vehicle\nshall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist,\npedestrian, or domestic animal upon any roadway and shall give warning\nby sounding the horn when necessary. For the purposes of this section,\nthe term "domestic animal" shall mean domesticated sheep, cattle, and\ngoats which are under the supervision and control of a pedestrian.\n (b) 1. A driver of a motor vehicle who causes physical injury as\ndefined in article ten of the penal law to a pedestrian or bicyclist\nwhile failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of\nthis section, shall be guilty of a traffic infraction punishable by a\nfine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not\nmore than fifteen days or by both such fine and imprisonment.\n 2. If such driver of a motor vehicle causes physical injury while\nfailing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of this\nsection, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a result\nof such failure to exercise due care, such person operated the motor\nvehicle in a manner that caused such physical injury.\n (c) 1. A driver of a motor vehicle who causes serious physical injury\nas defined in article ten of the penal law to a pedestrian or bicyclist\nwhile failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of\nthis section, shall be guilty of a traffic infraction punishable by a\nfine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars or by imprisonment for\nnot more than fifteen days or by required participation in a motor\nvehicle accident prevention course pursuant to paragraph (e-1) of\nsubdivision two of section 65.10 of the penal law or by any combination\nof such fine, imprisonment or course, and by suspension of a license or\nregistration pursuant to subparagraph (xiv) or (xv) of paragraph b of\nsubdivision two of section five hundred ten of this chapter.\n 2. If such driver of a motor vehicle causes serious physical injury\nwhile failing to exercise due care in violation of subdivision (a) of\nthis section, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that, as a\nresult of such failure to exercise due care, such person operated the\nmotor vehicle in a manner that caused such serious physical injury.\n (d) A violation of subdivision (b) or (c) of this section committed by\na person who has previously been convicted of any violation of such\nsubdivisions within the preceding five years, shall constitute a class B\nmisdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars\nin addition to any other penalties provided by law.\n (e) Nothing contained in this section shall prevent the court from\nimposing any other authorized disposition, including a period of\ncommunity service.\n