N.Y.
Vehicle & Traffic Law Section 416-A
Bumper quality label requirements
1.
It shall be unlawful after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-three for any manufacturer to sell or lease or to offer to sell or lease in this state for the purpose of registration in this state any new passenger type motor vehicle manufactured or assembled after said date designated as a nineteen hundred ninety-three or subsequent model, except omnibus and multipurpose passenger vehicles, unless such vehicle has affixed thereto a bumper quality label, placed conspicuously upon that window or windshield where the manufacturer’s suggested retail price sticker has been posted. The commissioner shall determine the size, type legibility and placement of such label. Such label shall include the following information: “This vehicle is equipped with a front bumper that has been tested at an impact speed of (specified by vehicle manufacturer) _____ miles per hour and a rear bumper that has been tested at an impact speed of (specified by the vehicle manufacturer) _______ miles per hour, and has sustained no damage to the vehicle’s body and minimal damage to the bumper and attachment hardware. Minimal damage to the bumper means damage that can be repaired with the use of a common repair materials and without replacing any parts. The stronger the bumper, the less likely the car will require repair after a low-speed collision.” 2. The impact speed required to be specified in the notice pursuant to subdivision one of this section is the maximum speed of impact upon the bumper of the vehicle at which the vehicle sustains no damage to the body and safety systems and only minimal damage to the bumper when subjected to the fixed barrier and pendulum impact tests, and when subjected to the corner impact test at not less than sixty percent of that maximum speed, conducted pursuant to the practices, procedures and regulations promulgated under the concurrent authority of the Federal Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act (Cost Savings Act)(15 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1381, et seq.) 3. For purposes of this section, “no damage” means that, when a passenger vehicle is subjected to applicable impact testing practices and procedures, the exterior surfaces shall have no separations of surface materials, paint, polymeric coatings or other covering materials from the surface to which they are bonded, and no permanent deviations from their original contours thirty minutes after completion of each pendulum and barrier impact test, except where such damage occurs to the bumper face bar and the components and associated fasteners that directly attach the bumper face bar to the chassis frame. There shall be no breakage or release of fasteners or joints except as described above.4.
Any manufacturer who violates subdivision one of this section, without just cause, shall be subject to a civil fine of not more than fifty dollars per vehicle with respect to which there has been a violation of this section. Civil penalties so assessed may not be deducted as an expense from any tax liability due to any local or state tax jurisdiction.
Source:
Section 416-A — Bumper quality label requirements, https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/416-A (updated Sep. 22, 2014; accessed Oct. 26, 2024).
