§ 1225-D — Use of portable electronic devices

§ 1225-d. Use of portable electronic devices. 1. Except as otherwise\nprovided in this section, no person shall operate a motor vehicle while\nusing any portable electronic device while such vehicle is in motion;\nprovided, however, that no person shall operate a commercial motor\nvehicle while using any portable electronic device on a public highway\nincluding while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic\ncontrol device, or other momentary delays. Provided further, however,\nthat a person shall not be deemed to be operating a commercial motor\nvehicle while using a portable electronic device on a public highway\nwhen such vehicle is stopped at the side of, or off, a public highway in\na location where such vehicle is not otherwise prohibited from stopping\nby law, rule, regulation or any lawful order or direction of a police\nofficer.\n 1-a. No motor carrier shall allow or require its drivers to use a\nportable electronic device while operating a commercial motor vehicle as\nprovided in this section.\n 2. For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall have\nthe following meanings:\n (a) "Portable electronic device" shall mean any hand-held mobile\ntelephone, as defined by subdivision one of section twelve hundred\ntwenty-five-c of this article, personal digital assistant (PDA),\nhandheld device with mobile data access, laptop computer, pager,\nbroadband personal communication device, two-way messaging device,\nelectronic game, or portable computing device, or any other electronic\ndevice when used to input, write, send, receive, or read text for\npresent or future communication.\n (b) "Using" shall mean holding a portable electronic device while\nviewing, taking or transmitting images, playing games, or, for the\npurpose of present or future communication: performing a command or\nrequest to access a world wide web page, composing, sending, reading,\nviewing, accessing, browsing, transmitting, saving or retrieving e-mail,\ntext messages, instant messages, or other electronic data.\n (c) "Commercial motor vehicle" shall have the same meaning as such\nterm is defined by subdivision four-a of section two of the\ntransportation law.\n (d) "Motor carrier" shall have the same meaning as such term is\ndefined by subdivision seventeen of section two of the transportation\nlaw.\n 3. Subdivision one of this section shall not apply to (a) the use of a\nportable electronic device for the sole purpose of communicating with\nany of the following regarding an emergency situation: an emergency\nresponse operator; a hospital; a physician's office or health clinic; an\nambulance company or corps; a fire department, district or company; or a\npolice department, (b) any of the following persons while in the\nperformance of their official duties: a police officer or peace officer;\na member of a fire department, district or company; or the operator of\nan authorized emergency vehicle as defined in section one hundred one of\nthis chapter.\n 4. A person who holds a portable electronic device in a conspicuous\nmanner while operating a motor vehicle or while operating a commercial\nmotor vehicle on a public highway including while temporarily stationary\nbecause of traffic, a traffic control device, or other momentary delays\nbut not including when such commercial motor vehicle is stopped at the\nside of, or off, a public highway in a location where such vehicle is\nnot otherwise prohibited from stopping by law, rule, regulation or any\nlawful order or direction of a police officer is presumed to be using\nsuch device, except that a person operating a commercial motor vehicle\nwhile using a portable electronic device when such vehicle is stopped at\nthe side of, or off, a public highway in a location where such vehicle\nis not otherwise prohibited from stopping by law, rule, regulation or\nany lawful order or direction of a police officer shall not be presumed\nto be using such device. The presumption established by this subdivision\nis rebuttable by evidence tending to show that the operator was not\nusing the device within the meaning of this section.\n 5. The provisions of this section shall not be construed as\nauthorizing the seizure or forfeiture of a portable electronic device,\nunless otherwise provided by law.\n 6. A violation of this section shall be a traffic infraction and shall\nbe punishable by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than two\nhundred dollars upon conviction of a first violation; upon conviction of\na second violation, both of which were committed within a period of\neighteen months, such violation shall be punished by a fine of not less\nthan fifty dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars; upon\nconviction of a third or subsequent violation, all of which were\ncommitted within a period of eighteen months, such violation shall be\npunished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than four\nhundred fifty dollars.\n