§ 605 — Report required upon accident

§ 605. Report required upon accident. (a) 1. Every person operating a\nmotor vehicle, except a police officer (as defined in subdivision\nthirty-four of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law), a correction\nofficer, or a firefighter, operating a police department, a correction\ndepartment, or fire department vehicle respectively while on duty, if a\nreport has been filed by the owner of such vehicle, which is in any\nmanner involved in an accident, anywhere within the boundaries of this\nstate, in which any person is killed or injured, or in which damage to\nthe property of any one person, including himself, in excess of one\nthousand dollars is sustained, shall within ten days after such\naccident, report the matter in writing to the commissioner. If such\noperator or chauffeur be physically incapable of making such report and\nthere be another participant in the accident not incapacitated, such\nparticipant shall make such report within ten days after such accident.\nIf the operator or chauffeur involved in such accident be unable to make\nsuch report, the owner of the motor vehicle involved in such accident,\nif such owner be not involved in such accident or incapacitated, shall\nwithin ten days after he learns of the fact of such accident report the\nmatter to the commissioner together with such information as may have\ncome to his knowledge relating to such accident. Every such operator or\nchauffeur of a motor vehicle, or participant in any such accident, or\nowner of the motor vehicle involved in any such accident, shall make\nsuch other and additional reports as the commissioner shall require.\n 2. Failure to report an accident as herein provided or failure to give\ncorrectly the information required of him by the commissioner in\nconnection with such report shall be a misdemeanor and shall constitute\na ground for suspension or revocation of the operator's (or chauffeur's)\nlicense or all certificates of registration for any motor vehicle, or of\nboth, of the person failing to make such report as herein required. In\naddition, the commissioner may temporarily suspend the driver's license\nor permit or certificate of registration of the motor vehicle involved\nin the accident, or of both, of the person failing to report an accident\nwithin the period prescribed in paragraph one of this subdivision, until\nsuch report has been filed. However, no suspension or a revocation shall\nbe made of a license or certificate of registration of any police\nofficer, correction officer, or firefighter involved in an accident\nwhile on duty for failure to report such accident within ten days\nthereof if a report has been filed by the owner of such vehicle.\n 3. In the case of a non-resident the failure to report an accident as\nherein provided shall constitute ground for suspension or revocation of\nhis privileges of operating a motor vehicle in this state and of the\noperation within this state of any motor vehicle owned by him.\n 4. When a report required by this section is made by an owner or an\noperator of a fire vehicle, as defined by section one hundred fifteen-a\nof this chapter, or a police vehicle, as defined by section one hundred\nthirty-two-a of this chapter, when such accident occurred during the\noperation of such vehicle in response to an emergency where the operator\nwas responding to a call to duty as a paid or volunteer member of any\nfire department, or in the case of a police vehicle, when such accident\noccurred during emergency operation, as defined by section one hundred\nfourteen-b of this chapter, the commissioner shall omit the event\ndescribed in such report from the operator's external license abstract.\nProvided, however, the commissioner shall not omit the event described\nin such report from the operator's external license abstract if as a\nresult of such event such operator has either (i) been charged with a\nviolation of this chapter or of the penal law, unless the commissioner\nreceives evidence that such charge has been dismissed, or that the\naction has otherwise been terminated in favor of the accused pursuant to\nsection 160.50 of the criminal procedure law, or that the charge has\notherwise been adjudicated in an administrative or other proceeding in\nfavor of the defendant operator or (ii) been found to have been grossly\nnegligent by a final order of a court of competent jurisdiction.\n (b) Every person operating an electric scooter or a bicycle which is\nin any manner involved in an accident on a public highway in this state\nin which any person is killed, other than the operator, or suffers\nserious physical injury as defined pursuant to subdivision ten of\nsection 10.00 of the penal law, shall within ten days after such\noperator learns of the fact of such death or serious physical injury,\nreport the matter in writing to the commissioner. If such operator is\nphysically incapable of making such report within ten days, he or she\nshall make the report immediately upon recovery from the physical\nincapacity. If such operator is an unemancipated minor who is incapable\nof making such report for any reason, the parent or guardian of such\noperator shall make such report within ten days after learning of the\nfact of such accident. Every such operator of an electric scooter or a\nbicycle, or parent or guardian of such unemancipated minor operator,\nshall make such other and additional reports as the commissioner shall\nrequire.\n (c) The report required by this section shall be made in such form and\nnumber as the commissioner may prescribe. Such report shall include\ninformation on the width and length of trucks, tractors, trailers and\nsemitrailers, which are in excess of ninety-five inches in width or\nthirty-four feet in length and which are involved in such accidents,\nwhether such accident took place in a work area and whether it was being\noperated with an overweight or over dimension permit. Such report shall\ndistinctly indicate and include information as to whether the inflatable\nrestraint system inflated and deployed. Such report shall include\ninformation on the type or types of vehicles involved, including\npassenger motor vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, motorcycles,\nlimited use motorcycles, off-highway motorcycles, electric scooters,\nbicycles with electric assist, and/or bicycles.\n