Texting while driving? Put down the cell phones and handheld devices!

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, joining officials in other states who have sought steep penalties for phone-wielding motorists, said on Friday he would introduce legislation to crack down on drivers who text, post on Twitter or otherwise distract themselves with handheld electronics while at the wheel.

The governor said he would propose upgrading so-called distracted driving from a secondary offense to a primary one, meaning that police officers could pull over drivers solely because they are spotted pecking away at their phones.

“Every day, countless drivers, particularly teenagers and young adults, drive with their eyes on a screen rather than the road,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “We need to impose a true deterrent to stop people from driving while using an electronic device and to keep our roads and citizens safe.”

The governor’s proposal would also increase the penalty for distracted driving from two points on a driver’s license to three points, the same punishment meted out for offenses like running a stop sign, failing to yield or committing minor speeding infractions.


Violators would be fined up to $150, an amount that remains unchanged from when the Legislature first banned texting while driving in 2009.

The proposal comes as lawmakers around the country push to tighten restrictions on using electronics at the wheel, a widespread practice that has been blamed in a number of fatal accidents in New York State in recent years. In 2009, 5,474 people across the country died in crashes linked to distraction, according to federal data.

Compared with most other states that have sought to crack down on distracted driving, New York’s existing law is relatively lax. Thirty-three states have forbidden text-messaging while driving, but only four of them do not consider it a primary offense, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Safety advocates praised the proposal, saying it would allow more widespread enforcement of the state’s ban on texting while at the wheel.

“The secondary nature of New York State’s law dilutes its deterrence value,” said John A. Corlett, the legislative committee chairman for AAA New York State. “Lawmakers need to stiffen the consequences for those who endanger the rest of us with their dangerous conduct.” And Ray LaHood, the federal transportation secretary and an outspoken critic of distracted driving, issued a statement saying, “I commend Governor Cuomo for introducing strong legislation that will help save lives and put a stop to dangerous distracted driving behavior on New York roads.”

Mr. Cuomo’s proposal would apply not only to texting, but also to any other hands-on use of smartphones, tablet computers, laptops, gaming devices or other portable electronics while driving. It would not include any devices mounted on a car’s dashboard, like a GPS.

A similar proposal by Mr. Cuomo’s predecessor, David A. Paterson, failed to win approval last year. But aides to Mr. Cuomo expressed optimism about winning passage before the scheduled end of this year’s legislative session on June 20. Lawmakers in both houses of the Legislature have expressed interest in strengthening the state’s laws on distracted driving: a bill to make texting at the wheel a primary offense passed the Senate last month, and the Assembly is expected to approve it next week.


The bill’s sponsor in the Senate, Carl L. Marcellino, a Long Island Republican, responded positively to Mr. Cuomo’s proposal. But he questioned the scope of the plan. “Maybe there’s some things you don’t want to cover,” Mr. Marcellino said, mentioning iPods as one example. “I like the fact that he’s engaging because it gives us the strength of his office and prestige behind the legislation and will help move us forward. But I think we have to be careful because it’s a very expansive bill.”

The governor’s proposal would also increase the penalty for talking on a cellphone without a hands-free device, which New York outlawed in 2001, from two points to three points.Last year, the police in New York State issued 331,809 tickets, including 217,012 in New York City, to motorists who were spotted talking on cellphones without hands-free devices, according to the State Department of Motor Vehicles. By contrast, the police issued only 3,235 tickets last year for texting while driving, including 1,632 in New York City.

By THOMAS KAPLAN

Published: June 10, 2011