What's happening
This bill requires police accident reports to indicate if a mobile phone was in use at the time of the accident.
Why it matters
Creates a clearer picture of distracted driving. By requiring police to note mobile phone use in accident reports, the bill could provide more accurate data on how often phones contribute to crashes, helping policymakers and advocates better understand and address the issue.
May influence law enforcement practices. Officers will need to investigate and document mobile phone use at accident scenes, potentially changing how they question drivers, witnesses, and examine evidence, and possibly increasing the thoroughness of accident investigations.
Could affect insurance and legal outcomes. If mobile phone use is officially recorded in accident reports, it may play a greater role in determining fault, influencing insurance claims, legal proceedings, and even criminal charges in certain cases.
Supports future prevention and legislation. Reliable data on mobile phone involvement in accidents could inform future public safety campaigns, targeted enforcement strategies, or additional distracted driving laws, aiming to reduce traffic injuries and fatalities.
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Who cares
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Track Phone Use in Crashes
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to transportation
- Referred to transportation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Track Phone Use in Crashes
In Assembly Committee · Transportation · Sponsor Felix Ortiz
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
4808
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
March 2, 2017
Introduced by Sen. STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring accident reports to indicate whether a mobile phone was in use at the time of the accident
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 603 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by chapter 432 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
1. Every police or judicial officer to whom an accident resulting in injury to a person shall have been reported, pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this chapter, shall immediately investigate the facts, or cause the same to be investigated, and report the matter to the commissioner forthwith; provided, however, that the report of the accident is made to the police officer or judicial officer within five days after such accident. Every coroner, or other official performing like functions, shall likewise make a report to the commissioner with respect to all deaths found to have been the result of motor vehicle or motorcycle accidents. Such report shall include information on the width and length of trucks, tractors, trailers and semitrailers, which are in excess of ninety-five inches in width or thirty-four feet in length and which are involved in such accidents, whether such accident took place in a work area and whether it was being operated with an overweight or overdimension permit. Such report shall distinctly indicate and include information as to whether the inflatable restraint system inflated and deployed. Such report shall distinctly indicate and include information as to whether a mobile telephone, as such term is defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section twelve hundred twenty-five-c of this chapter, was in use at the time of said accident. Nothing contained in this subdivision shall be deemed to preclude a police officer from
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07802-01-7
S. 4808 2
reporting any other accident which, in the judgment of such police officer, would be required to be reported to the commissioner by the operator of a vehicle pursuant to section six hundred five of this article.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law, provided, however, any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this act on its effective date shall be promulgated on or before such date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to requiring accident reports to indicate whether a mobile phone was in use at the time of the accident
Purpose
To allow police, the Department of Motor Vehicles and private researchers the ability to gather information more effectively regarding the relationship between automobile accidents and the use of mobile telephones in New York State.
Summary of specific provisions
This bill amends subdivision 1 of section 603 of the vehicle and traffic law as amended by chapter 432 of the laws of 1997.
Read the full memo (873 words)
This bill provides that every automobile accident report prepared by a police or judicial officer distinctly indicates whether a mobile telephone was in use at the time of said accident.
Justification
{1} In a report entitled Crashes Involving Cell Phones: Challenges of Collecting and Reporting Reliable Crash Data from the National Safety Council states:
Details from police fatal crash reports are included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is the nation's statistics database of fatal motor vehicle crashes and the factors contributing to them. There are wide-ranging, negative ramifications to safety if a fatal crash factor is substantially under-reported, as appears to be the case with cell phone use in crashes.
The report also says that FARS data have widespread influence regarding national and state prevention priorities, funding, media attention, legislation and vehicle and roadway engineering.
The report also enumerates the scope of the problem:
*There is no reliable method to accurately determine how many crashes involve cell phone use;
*Police must rely on self-reporting by drivers which is not possible when drivers are not forthcoming, injured, or deceased;
*Witness memories and statements are not always reliable or accurate;
*If a more obvious violation such as speeding, lane departure, alcohol or drug impairment is identified, police may not report cell phone use;
*Even if cell phone use is identified as a contributing factor later, accident reports may not be updated;
*Cell phone records may be difficult to obtain;
*If cell phone records are obtained, data must align with precise moment of the crash - a moment which is not always known;
*As long as reliance on driver admission is a factor, national statistics and reports can never represent the true scope of the problem.
Individuals distracted by the use of a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle have become an increasing cause of automobile accidents on the roads of this state.{2} In April 2016, the governor's office reported that "texting tickets have dramatically increased each year since 2011. In 2015, there were a combined 216,748 distracted driving tickets handed out, down from 242,000 the year before, however, texting and driving tickets increased to 84,720 vs. 76,212 in 2014. There has been and 840 percent increase in tickets for texting in New York State since 2011, the governor's office said, citing "the proliferation of smartphones."
Preliminary numbers for 2015 already show that the number of tickets issued by State Police and local law enforcement for texting are up over 2014, and have dramatically increased each year since 2011.
Tickets Issued by State and Local Law EnforcementÑ2011Ñ2012Ñ2013Ñ2014Ñ2015
Cell phone ticketsÑ248,540Ñ217,192Ñ208,472Ñ165,087Ñ132,028
Texting ticketsÑ9,015Ñ30,307Ñ55,692Ñ76,212Ñ84,720
Total distracted driving tickets (cell phone and texting combined)Ñ257,555Ñ247,499Ñ264,164Ñ241,299Ñ216,748
In 2014, more than 48,000 police-reported crashes statewide listed "driver inattention/ distraction" as a contributing factor. While drivers can be distracted by many factors, text messaging is one of the most alarming distractions because it requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver. According to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), looking away for two or more seconds will double the risk of a crash or near crash. However, five seconds is the average amount of time a driver's eyes are off the road while texting; when traveling at 55 miles per hour, that is enough time to cover the length of a football field blindfolded.
Funding to police agencies for Operation Hang Up and other special initiatives is provided by the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, which provides grants to the New York State Police and local police agencies to combat distracted and impaired driving, speeding and other targeted enforcement activities.
This legislation would provide accurate statistical gathering on official accident reports in New York State. In addition, the report must state whether it is known or suspected that a mobile phone was a cause of such accident. As a result, the police, the Department of Motor Vehicles and private researchers will have a more accurate source of data regarding accidents in which mobile phones were involved in New York State. Such information may be used to support proposed measures to help effectively prevent more automobile accidents.
Legislative history
Previously introduced.
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect 180 days after it shall have become law, provided, however, that any rules or regulations necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this act on its effective date shall be promulgated on or before such date. {1) Report based on FARS data collected during 2009-2011, http://www.nsc.org/Distracted Driving Documents/NSC-Under- Reporting-White-Paper.pdf, downloaded 1/25/17 {2} NYS website, April 8, 2016, https://www.govemor.ny.govinews/govemor -cuomo-announces840-percent-increase-tickets -texting-while-driving-201, downloaded 1/25/2017
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