New York Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

In November of 2009, Governor David Paterson signed into law a ban of texting while driving. However, the legislation was quickly criticized by highway safety organizations and local New York state law enforcement officials as it made texting while driving a "secondary offense." Inotherwords, a motorist who violated the law could only be stopped by the police if they were also violating another traffic regulation, such as speeding, following too closely or disregarding a traffic control device.

Recognizing quickly that the new law had no "teeth", Governor Paterson introduced a modified statute in February of this year to make the texting ban a primary offense, by which the police could more easily enforce the law. To date, the new texting legislation had been stalled, but recently, legislation passed the New York State Assembly, and according to a report by Joseph Spector in the Journal News on July 7, 2010, the law could possibly pass the New York State Senate as early as next week. The minimum fine for a violation of the present law is $150.00.

The original impetus for the statute came about from the tragic deaths of several teen drivers who were driving while texting, including five teen age girls from Monroe County who died in June of 2007. In that accident, police investigators determined through phone records that the driver was in the process of texting when her vehicle struck a tractor trailer. According to the Governors Highway Association, 30 states have banned texting while driving, but only New York, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia have the violation as a secondary offense.

We will follow developments on the texting legislation and report on any modifications of the law in the near future after the New York State Senate votes on the statute.

Continue reading "New York May Strengthen Law Against Texting Drivers" »

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is co-sponsoring a bill to require that teenagers be 18 years of age before they obtain full driving privileges. At present, when a teen turns 17 in New York and completes a driver's ed class, he or she can obtain a senior license. According to Gillibrand, she is seeking to reduce teenage driver deaths and serious injuries. New York has approximately 230,000 drivers aged 16 or 17, and statistically, these drivers are most likely to die in a fatal motor vehicle crash. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that for 15-20 year olds, there were 3,467 deaths and 281,000 injuries in 2005, and that car crashes were the number one cause of death.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has reported that increasing the teen driver's age by one year reduces deaths by 13% per 100,000 teenagers. If the bill were to pass, it would have the most dramatic impact in western states such as South Dakota, which permits teens to drive without supervision at 14 1/2, and Idaho and Montana, who allow unsupervised drivers at age 15.

The legislation will be voted on early next year as part of the highway reauthorization bill.

Continue reading "Gillibrand Wants Legislative Restrictions on Teen Drivers" »

Westchester County has enacted Local Law 12, 2008, which makes it illegal to compose, read, or send text messages while operating any type of motor vehicle, including automobiles, trucks, vans, and construction vehicles. The law will take effect on March 10, 2009. This is certainly welcome news to those of us (this writer included) who have had to swerve their car out of the path of a wayward driver who appears to be either texting someone or checking his or her messages or e-mails.

The New York State Assembly has been considering legislation banning drivers from sending or reading text messages after a tragic June, 2007 accident in which five teenage girls were killed in a head on collision with a tractor-trailer in Rochester, New York. The investigation of the accident established that text messages were sent and received from the 17 year old driver's cell phone just seconds before the fatal accident in New York.

Westchester Local Law 12 is entitled "Use of Wireless Handsets to Compose, Read or Send Text Messages While Operating a Motor Vehicle" and states as follows:

No person shall use a wireless handset to compose, read or send text messages while operating a motor vehicle on any public street or public highway within the County of Westchester. Cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), and other portable electronic or computing devices capable of transmitting data in the form of a text message are considered "wireless handsets." A violation of the law is punishable by a fine not exceeding $150.00 for each violation. Exempt from the law are law enforcement officers, EMT's, fire safety officials in the course of their duties, and people who are contacting police, EMT's or fire safety officers, or persons using a wireless handset in a vehicle which is stopped or parked, and is removed from the flow of traffic.

If New York joins New Jersey, California and Washington State in enacting a statewide ban on texting while driving, the Westchester law will become null and void.

Continue reading "Westchester County Bans Texting While Driving" »