NEW YORK-Holding a cell phone while driving got the boot Oct. 3 in Suffolk County, a large and populous jurisdiction on Long Island, part of New York state.
The county Legislature voted 12-6 to outlaw most handheld use of cell phones, beginning Jan. 1, by anyone operating a motor vehicle on all public streets, except emergency services workers and individuals making emergency calls.
The bill requires the signature of County Executive Robert J. Gaffney, but legislators reportedly have sufficient votes to override his veto should he decide to exercise it.
Suffolk, which has a population of about 1.4 million, is believed to be the first county and the largest local entity to adopt this kind of prohibition.
Violators would be subject to fines of up to $150 for each offense. In the eastern part of Suffolk, the County Sheriff’s Department will enforce the law. In the western portion, the County Police Department is charged with enforcement.
Introduced by Jon Cooper of Huntington, N.Y., the ban applies to dialing, answering, talking or listening on mobile devices, including but not limited to, “cellular, analog, wireless and digital telephones.”
The Cooper bill includes a clause addressing the “advances in technology (that) have made voice-activated mobile phones, as well as hands-free phone accessories … available to the public.”
The legislative plan asserts that “the use of such hands-free devices reduces the dangers and risks associated with using a mobile telephone while operating a motor vehicle.”
After Cooper introduced the bill in mid-July, Paul Sabatino II, counsel to the Legislature, prepared an analysis memorandum. In it, he said that New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law “only requires a motor vehicle operator to have one hand on the steering mechanism at all times when the motor vehicle is in operation.”
However, Cooper’s bill contends this state law does not “address the dangers and risks associated with the use of handheld mobile telephones while operating a motor vehicle.”
Furthermore, Sabatino opined that provisions and jurisdiction of the state Vehicle and Traffic Law relating to automotive equipment apply only to integral parts of the vehicles themselves.
“Since this legislation does not directly relate to the equipment actually required on motor vehicles, it does not run afoul of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law,” he said.
In reviewing the proposal for the Legislature, Sabatino said the New York State Constitution authorizes each local government to “enact legislation to protect the health, safety and well-being of its citizens.” Court precedent has construed this authority to include regulation of the use of local streets and parking on private property, he added.
