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Article 44 - NY Vehicle and Traffic Law

• NY Laws ›
• Vehicle and Traffic Law ›
• Title VIII ›
• Article 44

  S 1680. Department  of  transportation to maintain a manual of uniform
  traffic-control devices. (a)  The  department  of  transportation  shall
  maintain   a   manual   and  specifications  for  a  uniform  system  of
  traffic-control devices consistent with the provisions of  this  chapter
  for  use  upon  highways  within  this  state. Such uniform system shall
  correlate with and so far as practicable conform to nationally  accepted
  standards.  To  the  extent  that the National Manual on Uniform Traffic
  Control Devices (hereinafter referred to  in  this  section  as  MUTCD),
  promulgated  by the Federal Highway Administration pursuant to subpart F
  of part 655 of Title 23 of the Code of Federal Regulations  and  subject
  to a public comment period under federal law, does not conflict with the
  provisions  of  this  chapter  and  the  provisions of other laws of the
  state, the  National  MUTCD  shall  constitute  such  state  manual  and
  specifications; provided, however, such manual and specifications may be
  modified  by  the  commissioner  of  transportation by the adoption of a
  supplement  or  supplements  as  such  commissioner  of   transportation
  determines warranted and in compliance with the applicable provisions of
  the   state   administrative   procedure   act.   The   manual  and  its
  specifications is adopted as the  state  standard  for  traffic  control
  devices  on  any street, highway, or bicycle path open to public travel.
  No person shall install or maintain in any area of private property used
  by the public any sign, signal, marking  or  other  device  intended  to
  regulate, warn or guide traffic unless it conforms with the state manual
  and  specifications  maintained  under  this  section.  Unless otherwise
  provided for by the adoption of a  supplement  by  the  commissioner  of
  transportation,  the operational practices related to emergency incident
  responses provided in the manual shall  apply  to  police  officers  and
  other  emergency responders responding to an emergency only in so far as
  such officers or emergency responders deem compliance  with  the  manual
  practicable.
    (b)  No provision of this chapter shall be deemed to require that such
  manual contain authority for the future  installation  of  any  specific
  kind or type of traffic-control device or combination of traffic-control
  devices  which  in the judgment of the department of transportation does
  not conform to such nationally accepted standards.
    (c) No state or local authority shall hereafter fabricate or  purchase
  any  traffic-control  device that does not conform to the current manual
  and specifications as amended from time  to  time.  No  state  or  local
  authority  shall  hereafter install any traffic-control device that does
  not conform to the current manual and  specifications  as  amended  from
  time  to  time,  except  that  devices  that are on order or on hand and
  serviceable or operable may be installed and  used  until  the  phase-in
  compliance  date  specified  in  the  MUTCD. No state or local authority
  shall continue to use any traffic-control device that does  not  conform
  to  the  current  manual and specifications as amended from time to time
  beyond the phase-in compliance date specified in the MUTCD, except  that
  a city having a population in excess of one million shall conform to the
  state  manual and specifications only insofar as such local authority in
  its discretion deems practicable.
    (d) No person, firm, association or corporation shall sell, lease,  or
  offer  for sale or hire for use in this state any traffic control device
  that does not conform  to  the  current  manual  and  specifications  as
  amended  from time to time, or unless a certificate of approval has been
  issued by the commissioner of transportation pursuant to the  provisions
  of  section  five hundred ninety-nine-b of the general business law. The
  provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to  the  sale,  lease  or
  offer  for  sale  or hire to a city having a population in excess of one
  million.

  S 1681. State   traffic-control   devices.   (a)   The  department  of
  transportation shall order the installation, operation, maintenance  and
  removal  of  such  traffic-control devices, conforming to its manual and
  specifications, upon all state highways maintained by the  state  or  on
  any  highway intersecting a state highway maintained by the state on the
  approach to such intersection as it may deem necessary to  indicate  and
  to  carry  out  the  provisions of this chapter or to regulate, warn, or
  guide traffic, and elsewhere as specifically authorized by this chapter.
    (b) The department  of  transportation  may  order  the  erection  and
  maintenance of suitable directional signs upon the streets of cities and
  villages  and  upon county roads and town highways outside of cities and
  villages within the  state,  to  facilitate  through  traffic,  provided
  consent  therefor  is  first  obtained from the local authorities of the
  city, village or town or the county superintendent of highways.
    (c) Except as otherwise provided  the  cost  of  providing,  erecting,
  maintaining   and   removing  traffic-control  devices  ordered  by  the
  department of transportation shall be paid from any moneys available for
  the  maintenance,  repair  or  reconstruction  of  state  highways  upon
  vouchers approved by the department of transportation. However, the work
  of  providing, erecting and removing such traffic-control devices may be
  performed by contract in the same manner as provided for state  highways
  in  article  three  of  the highway law, or, by the use of department of
  transportation  forces  and  equipment  and  all   materials   purchased
  therefor, or by a combination of such methods, and the cost of such work
  may  be  paid  from  such moneys available for the construction of state
  highways. Except as herein provided, nothing shall  be  paid  from  such
  moneys for providing, erecting or maintaining traffic-control signals or
  flashing  signals  used  in  connection  with  regulating traffic upon a
  highway under the jurisdiction of the department  of  transportation  at
  entrances  to  private  property,  and  nothing  shall be paid from such
  moneys for maintaining traffic-control signals or flashing signals  used
  in   connection  with  regulating  traffic  upon  a  highway  under  the
  jurisdiction  of  the  department  of  transportation  at  entrances  to
  schools.  Upon  determination by the department of transportation of the
  need for such a signal, the department of transportation may permit  any
  person,  firm,  association,  corporation  or public body to provide and
  erect such  signal  in  accordance  with  standards  and  specifications
  established  by  the  department  of  transportation.  The department of
  transportation may require that some or all  of  the  control  equipment
  used  in  the  signal  construction  be  supplied by the state to ensure
  equipment quality and compatibility with state practices and the cost of
  such furnished equipment shall be reimbursed to the state by  the  party
  receiving permission to provide and erect the signal.
    All  signals  erected  on  or  after  the first day of April, nineteen
  hundred eighty-six with permission of the department  of  transportation
  and  in  accordance with the standards and specifications established by
  the department of transportation shall be maintained by the  state.  The
  party which erected such signals shall pay the state an annual fee to be
  determined  by the commissioner of transportation. Such fees shall cover
  the cost of normal signal maintenance, but shall not include the cost of
  electrical energy or major modifications  or  replacements  which  shall
  remain  the  responsibility  of  the party which erected the signal. The
  department of transportation may, in its discretion, agree to assume the
  same maintenance responsibility for signals erected with the  permission
  of  the  department  of  transportation prior to the first day of April,
  nineteen  hundred  eighty-six,  if  the  department  of   transportation
  determines  that  such  signal substantially meets established standards
  and is in a satisfactory state of repair. The party which  erected  such
  signals shall also pay the state an annual fee which shall be calculated
  in the same manner as fees for signals erected on or after the first day
  of April, nineteen hundred eighty-six.
    No  such  traffic signal or flashing signal erected with permission of
  the department of  transportation  shall  be  removed  except  with  the
  written consent of the department of transportation.
    The  department  of  transportation shall have the right to revoke its
  permission to provide, erect or maintain such a signal  and  shall  have
  the  right  to  require  that the signal be removed without a hearing or
  necessity of showing cause.
    (d) Signs posting speed limits established on county  roads  and  town
  highways  as  provided for in subdivision one of section sixteen hundred
  twenty-two, and traffic-control devices posting traffic  regulations  on
  the  grounds  of  state  departments  and  certain state institutions as
  provided for  in  sections  sixteen  hundred  twenty-three  and  sixteen
  hundred  twenty-seven  shall  be  provided,  installed and maintained at
  their own expense by  the  county,  town,  state  or  state  institution
  respectively.  Signs posting speed limits established as provided for in
  subdivision two of section sixteen hundred twenty-two shall be provided,
  installed and maintained at its own expense by the town.
    (e) Except as  otherwise  provided  for  in  section  sixteen  hundred
  eighty-two  no  state  agency,  local authority or person shall place or
  maintain any traffic-control device upon any state highway maintained by
  the state except by permission of the department of transportation.

   S 1682. Local  traffic-control  devices.  Local  authorities  in their
  respective jurisdiction shall place and  maintain  such  traffic-control
  devices,  conforming to the state manual and specifications, as they may
  deem necessary to indicate and carry out the provisions of this  chapter
  or  local  traffic  ordinances,  orders,  rules  or  regulations  or  to
  regulate, warn, or guide traffic, except that a city having a population
  in excess  of  one  million  shall  conform  to  the  state  manual  and
  specifications  only  insofar  as such local authority in its discretion
  deems practicable.

   S 1683. Signs  or  markings required. (a) No ordinance, order, rule or
  regulation made by any local authority under  the  powers  conferred  by
  this  title  shall  be  effective  until signs or markings giving notice
  thereof are posted, except under such conditions as may be authorized in
  writing by the department of transportation or as otherwise provided  in
  subsection  (b) of this section, if the effect of such order, ordinance,
  rule or regulation is to:
    1. Designate through highways and order stop signs,  flashing  signals
  or  yield signs erected at specified entrances thereto or designated any
  intersection as a stop intersection or a yield  intersection  and  order
  like signs or signals at one or more entrances to such intersection.
    2.  Prohibit,  restrict  or  regulate the operation of vehicles on any
  controlled-access highway or the use of any controlled-access highway by
  any vehicle, device moved by human power or pedestrian.
    3. Prohibit or regulate the turning of vehicles or specified types  of
  vehicles at intersections or other designated locations.
    4. Authorize angle parking on any roadway.
    5.  Upon  a  roadway  which  is divided into three lanes, allocate the
  center lane exclusively for traffic moving in a specified direction.
    6. Designate any highway  or  separate  roadway  thereof  for  one-way
  traffic.
    7.  Exclude  trucks,  commercial  vehicles,  tractors, tractor-trailer
  combinations  or  trucks  in  excess  of  any  designated  weight   from
  designated highway.
    8.  Prohibit,  restrict  or limit the stopping, standing or parking of
  vehicles.
    9. Designate no-passing zones and no changing lane zones and  indicate
  such  zones  in accordance with the standards, minimum warrants and sign
  or   marking   specifications   established   by   the   department   of
  transportation.
    10. Designate safety zones.
    11. Establish a system of truck routes upon which all trucks, tractors
  and  tractor-trailer  combinations having a total gross weight in excess
  of ten thousand pounds are permitted to travel and operate and excluding
  such vehicles and combinations from  all  highways  except  those  which
  constitute such truck route system.
    12.  Prohibit,  regulate  or  restrict  the operation or the stopping,
  standing or parking of vehicles on any bridge or in any tunnel,  or  the
  use  of any bridge or tunnel by any vehicle, device moved by human power
  or pedestrian.
    13. Prohibit and regulate the operation and the stopping, standing  or
  parking of vehicles in cemeteries and in public parks.
    14.  Exclude  all trucks, tractors and tractor-trailer combinations in
  excess of any designated length from designated highways or establish  a
  system  of  truck  routes  upon which such vehicles and combinations are
  permitted  to  travel  and  operate  and  excluding  such  vehicles  and
  combinations  from all highways except those which constitute such truck
  route system.
    15. Establish maximum speed limits other than the fifty-five miles per
  hour statutory maximum speed limit, or establish minimum speed limits.
    16. Regulate the crossing of any roadway by pedestrians.
    17. Designate preferential use lanes for specified types or classes of
  vehicles.
    (b) Such signs shall be required for  orders,  ordinances,  rules,  or
  regulations  made by the New York state thruway authority, the office of
  parks and recreation, a county park commission, a parkway  authority,  a
  bridge  authority, a bridge and tunnel authority or the legislative body
  of a city having a population in excess of one  million  or  any  board,
  body  or  official  to  whom  the power of such local authority has been
  designated only in so far as such local authorities in their  discretion
  may deem practicable.

   S 1684. State  highways  maintained  by  the state. No local authority
  shall place or maintain any traffic-control device on any state  highway
  maintained  by the state, or at any location so as to prohibit, restrict
  or limit the movement of traffic proceeding along, entering or  crossing
  such  highway,  nor  shall  any  ordinance, rule or regulation affecting
  traffic or stopping, standing or parking on state highways maintained by
  the state be effective unless or until  approval  in  writing  has  been
  obtained  from  the  department of transportation, and the department of
  transportation may at any time rescind or modify such approval.

  S 1685. All  vehicles  must  stop  or  yield at certain railroad grade
  crossings  where  a  stop  or  yield  sign   is   erected.   The   state
  transportation  commissioner,  with respect to state highways, and local
  authorities with respect to local  streets  within  their  jurisdiction,
  with  the  approval  of the state transportation commissioner are hereby
  authorized to install a stop  or  yield  sign  at  any  highway-railroad
  crossings within their respective jurisdictions.
    The  design  and  place and manner of installation of such signs shall
  conform to the manual and specifications for a uniform system of traffic
  control devices adopted by the state transportation commissioner.
    Whenever any such crossing is so designated and a stop or  yield  sign
  is installed, it shall be unlawful for the driver of any vehicle to fail
  to  stop  or yield within fifty feet but not less than fifteen feet from
  such railroad tracks before traversing such  crossing.  The  failure  to
  erect,  or the erection of, or failure to replace or maintain such signs
  shall not be a basis for any action of negligence against a municipality
  or the state nor a basis of a defense by a railroad in an  action  based
  on negligence against a railroad.

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