Lawmaker plans cellphone-driving hearings

ALBANY -- Driving while talking on a hands-free cellphone could be in the legislative crosshairs next year following a federal recommendation to ban the practice.

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) plans to hold hearings on distracted driving next year to look into whether those recommendations should become law in New York.

"Fatalities have increased with the use of cellphones and other devices with automobiles," said Fuschillo, chairman of the Senate transportation committee. The hearings will examine "if New York should be doing more to prevent such circumstances."

After the National Transportation Safety Board on Dec. 13 said states should ban the use of all portable electronic devices while driving, except in emergencies, Fuschillo issued a statement that said he supported the recommendations. But in an interview, he said hearings were needed before determining whether legislation banning the use of hands-free cellphones was warranted.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 5,474 people were killed and 448,000 people were injured in distracted driving accidents in the United States in 2009.

New York is one of nine states that ban hand-held cellphones while driving and among 35 that ban texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. No states have blanket bans on hands-free cellphone use, though all but 17 prohibit their use for certain drivers, including school bus drivers, holders of learner's permits or drivers under 18, according to the association.

Robert Sinclair Jr., spokesman for AAA New York, said hands-free devices can cause distractions and conversations on them should be kept short. However, the automobile organization doesn't support making their use illegal.

"We don't think they should be banned, but hands-free is not risk-free," he said.

"We seriously worry about getting on the slippery slope of legislation being applied to any and every behavior when they are behind the wheel," he said.

Rob Reynolds, executive director of FocusDriven, a nonprofit that advocates for tougher distracted driving laws, said studies have shown there is little difference between driving while talking on cellphones that are hands-free or handheld.

"It's the mind itself that is distracted," Reynolds said. Conversations in the car are typically long, which creates more opportunities "to have your attention decreased at the wrong moment," he said.

Outside of New York City, so far this year Suffolk County has the highest number of tickets in the state issued for driving while using a cellphone: 9,266 tickets were written from January through November, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. Nassau County, which ranked third, had 8,239 such tickets out of the 224,741 tickets issued in the same time frame.