Bill Text: NY A03083 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Prohibits the use of head-mounted portable electronic devices while driving.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to transportation [A03083 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A03083-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          3083
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                    January 28, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ORTIZ,  FAHY,  STECK, ASHBY -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Transportation
        AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to  prohibiting
          the use of head-mounted portable electronic devices while driving
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 2 and  subdivision  4
     2  of section 1225-d of the vehicle and traffic law, paragraphs (a) and (b)
     3  of subdivision 2 as amended by section 8 and subdivision 4 as amended by
     4  section  10  of part C of chapter 58 of the laws of 2013, are amended to
     5  read as follows:
     6    (a) "Portable electronic device" shall mean  any  hand-held  or  head-
     7  mounted  mobile  telephone,  as  defined  by  subdivision one of section
     8  twelve hundred twenty-five-c of this article, personal digital assistant
     9  (PDA), handheld device with mobile data access, laptop computer,  pager,
    10  broadband personal communication device, two-way messaging device, elec-
    11  tronic  game,  [or]  portable  computing device, or any other electronic
    12  device when used to input, write, send, receive, or read text for  pres-
    13  ent or future communication.
    14    (b) "Using" shall mean holding or wearing a portable electronic device
    15  while viewing, taking or transmitting images, playing games, or, for the
    16  purpose  of  present  or  future  communication: performing a command or
    17  request to access a world wide web page,  composing,  sending,  reading,
    18  viewing, accessing, browsing, transmitting, saving or retrieving e-mail,
    19  text messages, instant messages, or other electronic data.
    20    4.  A  person  who  holds  or  wears a portable electronic device in a
    21  conspicuous manner while operating a motor vehicle or while operating  a
    22  commercial motor vehicle on a public highway including while temporarily
    23  stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device, or other momen-
    24  tary  delays  but  not  including  when such commercial motor vehicle is
    25  stopped at the side of, or off, a public highway  in  a  location  where
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06698-01-9
        A. 3083                             2
     1  such  vehicle  is  not  otherwise prohibited from stopping by law, rule,
     2  regulation or any lawful order or  direction  of  a  police  officer  is
     3  presumed  to  be  using  such  device,  except that a person operating a
     4  commercial  motor  vehicle while using a portable electronic device when
     5  such vehicle is stopped at the side of, or off, a public  highway  in  a
     6  location where such vehicle is not otherwise prohibited from stopping by
     7  law, rule, regulation or any lawful order or direction of a police offi-
     8  cer  shall  not  be  presumed  to  be using such device. The presumption
     9  established by this subdivision is rebuttable  by  evidence  tending  to
    10  show  that  the  operator was not using the device within the meaning of
    11  this section.
    12    § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 1225-d of the vehicle and traffic law is
    13  amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
    14    (e) "Head-mounted" shall mean wearing a portable electronic device  on
    15  the  head,  ears  and nose as eyeglasses or eyewear. Common head-mounted
    16  portable electronic devices shall include, but not be limited to, Google
    17  Glass and Google Glasses, and other similar technologies or devices.
    18    § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    19  have become a law.