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NY Lawmakers Vote to Suspend Licenses for Texting While Driving

Local News, Crime

By Published: June 06 2013

LongIsland.com

Those holding probationary or junior licenses will be given higher penalties that begin with license suspension for 60 days for a first offense of driving while texting or using an electronic mobile device.

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New York State is cracking down on young drivers who text while driving with the imminent passage of a bill that will put stiffer penalties on inexperienced drivers who text.

The bill includes greater penalties for drivers who only hold junior or probationary licenses.  When the law goes into effect, texters will get more than the current fine.  On the first offense, drivers with either of these licenses will have their licenses suspended for 60 days.  If a second offense is committed within the next six months, a driver with a probationary license would have it revoked for six months, and a driver with a junior license would have it revoked for 60 days.

Inexperienced drivers will also face additional penalties for sending out a text while behind the wheel, including five points on their license for each offense.

The bill has been approved by the state legislature, and Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to sign it into law soon.

Young drivers are particularly targeted because they are the largest group of drivers who use cellphones, and they are also the most inexperienced of drivers.  According to the bill, research was presented at a recent poster session of the Pediatric Academic Studies that found that 43% of teenage drivers admit that they regularly text while driving.

“Inattention and inexperience is a deadly combination and no parent should have to experience losing a child at the hands of a text message,” said Governor Cuomo in a press release. 

Proponents of the bill also cited the increasing amount of accidents and deaths caused by texting while driving.  The amount of crashes caused by distracted driving has even surpassed the number of crashes caused by driving while intoxicated. 

“According to statistics, from 2005 to 2011, there was a 143% increase in cell phone-related crashes in New York State,” lawmakers say in the bill.  “In 2011, there were 25,165 fatal and personal injury crashes involving distracted driving in New York, compared to 4,628 caused by alcohol-related driving.”

The bill will also apply to drivers using any handheld electronic device, such as iPods or tablets.

[Source: NY Senate, Press Release]