NYS DMV Presentation NYS DOT Rural & Specialized Transportation Conference March 13, 2008

Article 19-A Vehicle & Traffic Law Today’s Focus: 19-A & DMV 19-A requirements – the basics & things to know OSC Audit What’s new What’s coming Q & A

Reorganization Information Our name is changing – AGAIN! No longer Driver Program Regulation (DPR) Now part of the Motor Carrier Safety Bureau Will be known as the Bus Driver Unit (BDU)

Bus Driver Unit (BDU) Same phone#: (518) M – F, 9 AM – 4 PM Same fax#: (518) Same address: 6 Empire State Plaza, Room 220C Albany, NY 12228

Field Operations Testing & Investigations Units Located in 14 offices across the State T&I Units and examiners Conduct the periodic 19-A record reviews Road tests for licensing Bus driver 3-accident re-examinations Testing for 19-A Certified Examiners

T & I Locations Albany Binghamton Buffalo Rochester Syracuse Utica West Haverstraw Yonkers Bronx Brooklyn Queens Staten Island Bethpage (Nassau County) Hauppauge (Suffolk County)

Licensing Basics All 19-A drivers need a CDL with a Passenger (P) endorsement Drivers of school buses that seat 15 adult passenger or larger need a School Bus (S) endorsement An A3 restriction on a CDL limits the driver’s driving to school bus or municipal CMV operations only Commencing on 2/1/2006 all new applicants for a CDL or those renewing commencing 4/1/2006 must meet the Federal DOT qualification standards – unless exempt from them

Article 19-A Special Requirements for Bus Drivers Sections 509-a – 509-o of the VTL Part 6 of the Commissioner’s Regulations Enacted in 1974 to further highway safety by creating standards for the qualification of bus drivers

When Does 19-A Apply? Motor Carrier ? Driver ? Vehicle ? YES

Pre-employment Procedures  Investigate the applicant’s employment record during the preceding three years  Require each applicant to submit to and pass the 19-A physical examination to drive a bus  Require each applicant to possess a currently valid CDL in the class appropriate to the type of vehicle that the driver will operate.  Review the applicant’s license document for driving restrictions and endorsements.

Pre-employment Procedures Continued  Obtain an abstract of driving record from every state in which the applicant was licensed during the preceding three years  Have the applicant take and pass the 19-A physical examination, and have form DS-874 completed (the Federal medical form will now be accepted in lieu of the DS-874)  Send the BDU the bus driver applicant’s Article 19-A Bus Driver Application, DS-870 form, within ten days of hiring

Annual Procedures  Obtain an abstract of each driver’s driving record  Conduct an annual review of each driver’s driving record  Conduct a defensive driving observation for each driver – must be done by an Article 19-A Certified Examiner  File an annual affidavit of compliance by July 1st

Biennial Procedures  Have a physical examination conducted for each driver  Conduct a behind-the-wheel road test for each driver *  Conduct a written (or oral) examination for each driver * * These procedures must be conducted by an Article 19-A Certified Examiner

Carrier Penalties  If after an administrative hearing a carrier is found to have violated provisions of 19-A, it may be subject to a civil penalty ranging from $500 to $5000 per violation, and/or have its vehicle registrations suspended or revoked  The Department may in some instances offer a carrier an opportunity to waive a hearing

Driver Responsibilities  Report accidents (NY as well as out-of-state) to employer within 5 working days  Report convictions for traffic infractions (NY as well as out-of-state) to employer within 5 working days  Report driver license suspension, revocation or withdrawal, or misdemeanor/felony convictions in any jurisdiction to employer by the end of the business day following the day the driver received it

Driver Disqualifications  Stop (suspension/revocation) on NYS driver license/driving privilege record  9 points within 18 months  Conviction for leaving the scene of a personal injury or fatal accident  2 DWI/DWAI/DUI convictions within 10 years  Conviction for aggravated unlicensed operation 1 st degree  Failure of the Article 19-A 3-accident re-exam road test  Failure of the biennial behind-the wheel road test  Failure of the biennial written test

Law Change 11/1/2007 Chapter 345 of the Laws of 2007 added new Penal Law sections that will result in a 5 year disqualification of a bus driver upon conviction. They are: Aggravated Vehicular Assault ( a PL) Aggravated Vehicular Homicide ( PL)

Office of the State Comptroller’s Audit of the 19-A Program

OSC 19-A Audit Commenced in 9/2005 – final report issued 9/4/2007 The full report and DMV’s response and be found at: htm Focused on: Carrier Compliance Unregistered Carriers and Drivers Criminal History Checks

OSC Recommendations to DMV Carrier Compliance (Highlights) Revise the driver sampling methodology used to include all drivers who were employed by the carrier during the review period Develop formal criteria for identifying “problem” carriers that require more frequent reviews Do more unannounced reviews especially at carriers with a history of noncompliance Impose progressively stronger penalties when carriers are repeatedly found to be in noncompliance

OSC Recommendations to DMV Unregistered Drivers and Carriers Develop and implement proactive methods for identifying unregistered carriers and drivers Curbside verifications Compare NYS DOT carrier list with DMV’s Require carriers to provide driver list to DMV examiner conducting a 19-A review

OSC Recommendations to DMV Criminal History Checks Seek law changes to allow for criminal history checks of non-school bus drivers Use fingerprinting scanning technology or other methods to make the criminal history checks of bus drivers more efficient

New 19-A Database Phase 1 for BDU & DMV T&I Units Went into production 12/10/2007 Enhancements that affect carriers New Notifications New 19-A Status indicators on the license file

Enhancements For Carriers Automatic requalification of drivers for driver license stops No need to modify the FEIN for different locations DMV Business ID for each location No need for R & S driver rosters Verification of O/S driver license status

New Notifications Separate Pending Disqualification Notice Cleared Pending Disqualification Notice Initial Affidavit of Compliance Initial Affidavit of Compliance Acknowledgement Notice

New 19-A Status Indicators Active School Pending Inactive School Pending These join the existing statuses of: Active/Inactive School Qualified Active/Inactive Non School Only Disqualified

Annual Affidavit of Compliance 2008 AFCO –that’s what we call it! Automated mailing this year – around 4/15/08 Separate roster & AFCO packets No driver SSN or address on roster Annual Statistical Report printed on reverse side of AFCO

Electronic Notifications and Reporting Phase 2 of the 19-A Re-Write Project Anticipated delivery date will be in late 2008/early 2009 Carriers will be able to electronically access the 19-A system via the Internet to: Add/Drop Drivers Receive electronic driver notifications File their Annual Affidavit of Compliance View their roster of drivers Maybe more!

Revision of 19-A Forms & Part 6 Update All forms have been reviewed for revisions We will notify carriers when they become available Updates to Part 6 of the Commissioner’s Regulations are in process

Visit DMV’s Website Lots of information and on-line services available at:

Q & A Any questions for us?