New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (hereinafter VTL) §1103(b) creates an exception to the general rule that vehicle owners and drivers may be held liable for damages proximately caused by their negligence. The exception protects drivers of hazard vehicles (snowplows, street sweepers, dump trucks, garbage trucks, etc.) from being held to the ordinary standard of negligence. Instead, they will be held to the reckless disregard standard which is a much higher standard and more difficult to prove. The reckless disregard standard applies when defendant acts with a reckless disregard "for the safety of others" pursuant to the language of VTL §1103. N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law §1103 (McKinney).

This exception only applies when the driver of a hazard vehicle is "actually engaged" in "hazardous operations" on or adjacent to a highway.

VTL §1103 dictates when hazard vehicles are traveling to and from hazardous operations the vehicle operator is not protected under the §1103 exemption. The drivers of the hazard vehicles fall under the standard of ordinary negligence rather than the heightened reckless disregard standard when traveling to or from operations.