Assembly Bill A8496

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  8496

                          I N  A S S E M B L Y

                            January 17, 2014
                               ___________

Introduced  by M. of A. ORTIZ -- read once and referred to the Committee
  on Transportation

AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to  prohibiting
  the use of head-mounted portable electronic devices while driving

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subdivision 2 and  subdivision  4
of section 1225-d of the vehicle and traffic law, paragraphs (a) and (b)
of  subdivision 2 as amended by section 8 of part C of chapter 58 of the
laws of 2013 and subdivision 4 as amended by section 10  of  part  C  of
chapter 58 of the laws of 2013, are amended to read as follows:
  (a)   "Portable   electronic  device"  shall  mean  any  hand-held  OR
HEAD-MOUNTED mobile telephone, as defined by subdivision one of  section
twelve hundred twenty-five-c of this article, personal digital assistant
(PDA),  handheld device with mobile data access, laptop computer, pager,
broadband personal communication device, two-way messaging device, elec-
tronic game, [or] portable computing device,  or  any  other  electronic
device  when used to input, write, send, receive, or read text for pres-
ent or future communication.
  (b) "Using" shall mean holding OR WEARING a portable electronic device
while viewing, taking or transmitting images, playing games, or, for the
purpose of present or future  communication:  performing  a  command  or
request  to  access  a world wide web page, composing, sending, reading,
viewing, accessing, browsing, transmitting, saving or retrieving e-mail,
text messages, instant messages, or other electronic data.
  4. A person who holds OR WEARS  a  portable  electronic  device  in  a
conspicuous  manner while operating a motor vehicle or while operating a
commercial motor vehicle on a public highway including while temporarily
stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device, or other momen-
tary delays but not including when  such  commercial  motor  vehicle  is
stopped  at  the  side  of, or off, a public highway in a location where
such vehicle is not otherwise prohibited from  stopping  by  law,  rule,
regulation  or  any  lawful  order  or  direction of a police officer is
presumed to be using such device,  except  that  a  person  operating  a

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                           LBD13327-01-3

A. 8496                             2

commercial  motor  vehicle while using a portable electronic device when
such vehicle is stopped at the side of, or off, a public  highway  in  a
location where such vehicle is not otherwise prohibited from stopping by
law, rule, regulation or any lawful order or direction of a police offi-
cer  shall  not  be  presumed  to  be using such device. The presumption
established by this subdivision is rebuttable  by  evidence  tending  to
show  that  the  operator was not using the device within the meaning of
this section.
  S 2. Subdivision 2 of section 1225-d of the vehicle and traffic law is
amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
  (E) "HEAD-MOUNTED" SHALL MEAN WEARING A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE  ON
THE  HEAD,  EARS  AND NOSE AS EYEGLASSES OR EYEWEAR. COMMON HEAD-MOUNTED
PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICES SHALL INCLUDE, BUT NOT BE LIMITED TO, GOOGLE
GLASS AND GOOGLE GLASSES, AND OTHER SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES OR DEVICES.
  S 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
have become a law.