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Vehicle and Traffic Law § 509-l · Article 19-A. Special Requirements For Bus Drivers

Drugs, controlled substances and intoxicating liquor

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)

§ 509-l. Drugs, controlled substances and intoxicating liquor. 1. No person shall:

(a) consume a drug, controlled substance or an intoxicating liquor, regardless of its alcoholic content, or be under the influence of an intoxicating liquor or drug, within six hours before going on duty or operating, or having physical control of a bus, or

(b) consume a drug, controlled substance or an intoxicating liquor, regardless of its alcoholic content while on duty, or operating, or in physical control of a bus, or

(c) possess a drug, controlled substance or an intoxicating liquor, regardless of its alcoholic content while on duty, operating or in physical control of a bus. However, this paragraph does not apply to possession of a drug, controlled substance or an intoxicating liquor which is transported as part of a shipment or personal effects of a passenger or to alcoholic beverages which are in sealed containers.

2. No motor carrier shall require or permit a driver to:

(a) violate any provision of subdivision one of this section; or

(b) be on duty or operate a bus if, by such person's general appearance or by such person's conduct or by other substantiating evidence, such person appears to have consumed a drug, controlled substance or an intoxicating liquor within the preceding six hours, or eight hours when such driver operates a school bus as defined by section one hundred forty-two of this chapter.

Source of truth

Edition
Law content up to date as of October 30, 2026, as published by the New York State Senate (Open Legislation)
Official file
https://legislation.nysenate.gov/pdf/laws/VAT509-L
Text hash
sha256 c573d5073581b42d05523265d59b0d2487de8413500e0dfd139946c27c8bad05
Composed by
gen_ny_statutes.py 2026-11-10: the Senate's Open Legislation law tree (GET /api/3/laws/<ID>?full=true) read in document order; the Senate's PDF of the whole law (GET /pdf/laws/<ID>?full=true), read with PDFium, prints the same words in the same order

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.