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S 10237 NY

Enacts the "who you gonna call? act"

NY · session 2025-2026 · Senate · bill

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Introduced May 7, 2026

Latest action (May 7, 2026) REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION

Summary

This bill, known as the "Who You Gonna Call? Act," classifies vehicles of the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner as authorized emergency vehicles under state law. The bill allows these vehicles to display blue, red, and white emergency lights and to operate under emergency vehicle traffic rules. Scenes where the chief medical examiner has an official role are classified as emergency operations under the law. These changes allow the chief medical examiner's office to respond to scenes with the same traffic and operational privileges as other emergency services. The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Official abstract

Enacts the "who you gonna call? act"; classifies vehicles of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of New York as an emergency vehicle; classifies any actual or potential scene where the New York city office of chief medical examiner has an official role as an emergency operation; authorizes vehicles of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of New York to affix vehicles with blue, red and white lights.

Sponsor (1)

Action history (1)

  1. May 7, 2026 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION · upper

Text versions (2)

The published texts of this bill as it moves through the legislature. Each links to the official document on the state legislature site. Data from OpenStates.

  • S10237 · HTML
  • S10237 · PDF

Full text

Full text imported from assembly.state.ny.us

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New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie

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Bill No.: Summary Actions Committee&nbspVotes Floor&nbspVotes Memo Text LFIN Chamber&nbspVideo/Transcript S10237 Summary: BILL NO S10237 &nbsp SAME AS SAME AS A11075

&nbsp SPONSOR BOTTCHER &nbsp COSPNSR &nbsp MLTSPNSR &nbsp Amd §§101, 114-b & 375, V & T L &nbsp Enacts the "who you gonna call? act"; classifies vehicles of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of New York as an emergency vehicle; classifies any actual or potential scene where the New York city office of chief medical examiner has an official role as an emergency operation; authorizes vehicles of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of New York to affix vehicles with blue, red and white lights.

Go to top S10237 Text:

STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________

10237

IN SENATE

May 7, 2026 ___________

Introduced by Sen. BOTTCHER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation

AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to enacting the "who you gonna call? act"

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows:

1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "who you 2 gonna call? act". 3 § 2. Section 101 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 4 496 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 5 § 101. Authorized emergency vehicle. Every ambulance, police vehicle 6 or bicycle, correction vehicle, fire vehicle, civil defense emergency 7 vehicle, emergency ambulance service vehicle, blood delivery vehicle, 8 human organ delivery vehicle, vehicle of the office of chief medical 9 examiner of the city of New York, county emergency medical services 10 vehicle, environmental emergency response vehicle, sanitation patrol 11 vehicle, hazardous materials emergency vehicle and ordnance disposal 12 vehicle of the armed forces of the United States. 13 § 3. Section 114-b of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chap- 14 ter 496 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 15 § 114-b. Emergency operation. The operation, or parking, of an author- 16 ized emergency vehicle, when such vehicle is engaged in transporting a 17 sick or injured person, transporting prisoners, delivering blood or 18 blood products in a situation involving an imminent health risk, trans- 19 porting human organs and/or medical personnel for the purpose of organ 20 recovery or transplantation in a situation involving an imminent health 21 risk where undue delay would jeopardize such recovery or transplanta- 22 tion, investigating, transporting or removing deceased persons, support- 23 ing mass-fatality or decedent-removal operations, pursuing an actual or 24 suspected violator of the law, or responding to, or working or assisting 25 at the scene of an accident, disaster, police call, alarm of fire, actu- 26 al or potential release of hazardous materials , actual or potential 27 scene where the New York city office of chief medical examiner has an

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD15550-02-6

S. 10237 2

1 official role, or other emergency. Emergency operation shall not include 2 returning from such service. 3 § 4. Subparagraph b of paragraph 4 of subdivision 41 of section 375 of 4 the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 143 of the laws of 5 2011, is amended to read as follows: 6 b. In addition to the red and white lights authorized to be displayed 7 pursuant to paragraph two of this subdivision, one or more blue lights 8 or combination blue and red lights or combination blue, red and white 9 lights may be affixed to a police vehicle, fire vehicle, ambulance, 10 emergency ambulance service vehicle, vehicle of the office of chief 11 medical examiner of the city of New York, and county emergency medical 12 services vehicle provided that such blue light or lights shall be 13 displayed on a police vehicle, fire vehicle, ambulance, emergency ambu- 14 lance service vehicle, vehicle of the office of chief medical examiner 15 of the city of New York, and county emergency medical services vehicle 16 for rear projection only. In the event that the trunk or rear gate of a 17 police vehicle, fire vehicle, ambulance, emergency ambulance service 18 vehicle, vehicle of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of 19 New York, and county emergency medical services vehicle obstructs or 20 diminishes the visibility of other emergency lighting on such vehicles, 21 a blue light may be affixed to and displayed from the trunk, rear gate 22 or interior of such vehicles. Such lights may be displayed on a police 23 vehicle, fire vehicle, ambulance, emergency ambulance service vehicle, 24 vehicle of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of New York, 25 and county emergency medical services vehicle when such vehicles are 26 engaged in an emergency operation. Nothing contained in this subpara- 27 graph shall be deemed to authorize the use of blue lights on police 28 vehicles, fire vehicles, ambulances, emergency ambulance service vehi- 29 cles, vehicle of the office of chief medical examiner of the city of New 30 York, and county emergency medical services vehicles unless such vehi- 31 cles also display one or more red or combination red and white lights as 32 otherwise authorized in this subdivision. 33 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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