Bill Text: NY A04879 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits the use of head-mounted portable electronic devices while driving.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-06 - referred to transportation [A04879 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-A04879-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 4879 2015-2016 Regular Sessions I N A S S E M B L Y February 9, 2015 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ -- 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 7 HEAD-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. LBD02547-01-5 A. 4879 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 S 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 S 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 19 have become a law.