Published 01 Sep, 2015
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 1, 2015
TWU Executive Vice President & Local 100 President John Samuelsen and NYC’s Corporation Council have signed a legal agreement clarifying the intent of a controversial Vision Zero law that has led to the arrest of six Bus Operators.
The agreement, Samuelsen said, will protect bus operators from being charged criminally after pedestrian crosswalk accidents that are just that – accidents that were not caused by driver recklessness.
The court-approved agreement settles a federal lawsuit that Local 100 filed in April against the city challenging the legality of the “Right of Way” Vision Zero bill.
“This is a huge victory,” Samuelsen said. “Under this well-intentioned but poorly crafted law, Bus Operators were arrested and handcuffed like common criminals. This settlement safeguards all Bus Operators and other transit workers who drive MTA motor vehicles from arrest if involved in an accident lacking recklessness.”
The settlement clearly states the Right of Way bill is not a strict liability law.
That’s an important clarification. Having an accident is not in and of itself proof that a Bus Operator, or any other driver, failed to exercise “due care” behind the wheel.
In addition, NYC has affirmed it is instructing police officers who investigate crosswalk accidents to consider the very real possibility a Bus Operator’s view was blocked by the side-view mirror. The location and size of the mirror creates well-documented “blind spots” for Operators.
Background
The “Right of Way” provision signed into law by Mayor de Blasio in June 2014 elevated a traffic infraction (failure to yield to a pedestrian or bicyclist in a crosswalk) to a criminal misdemeanor when a driver fails to exercise “due care” and a pedestrian, or bicyclist, is injured.
The misdemeanor carries a possible fine of up to $250 and 30 days in jail.
The provision, however, doesn’t define “due care” or give examples of the types of driver behavior that would be considered a violation.
As a result, six bus operators who had accidents were arrested, handcuffed and charged between September of 2014 and February of this year.
In addition to bus “blind spots,” Operators are forced to make dangerous turns at busy intersections without dedicated left-turn-only signals. Pedestrians are now given the ‘walk’ signal – at the same time bus operators are turning with a green light – which is a recipe for disaster.
Local 100’s lawsuit claimed the ROW bill was unconstitutionally vague. The settlement attempts to define “due care” as what one would expect from “reasonably prudent drivers.” Under the settlement, this clarification of the law will be distributed to police officers who respond to traffic accidents.