NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A348A
SPONSOR: Paulin (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to drivers of
school buses that are carrying students using hands-free mobile tele-
phones
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
A bill to ban school bus drivers from mobile telephone use while driv-
ing.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new paragraph (e) to subdivision (2) of section 1225-c
of the vehicle and traffic law, to prohibit school bus drivers from'
speaking on a hands-free mobile telephone while operating a school bus
that is carrying students except in the cases of emergency or being
parked lawfully on the side of the road. This prohibition does not apply
to devices lawfully designated for communication between a driver and
the dispatch or school district. The commissioner of education, in
consultation with the commissioner of transportation, shall re-evaluate
exempted devices according to new technology.
Section 2 of the bill amends subdivision (3) section 1225-c, to prohibit
school bus drivers from using a hands-free mobile telephone.
Section 3 provides that the statute shall take effect in sixty days.
JUSTIFICATION:
School bus drivers in New York State should be banned from using hands-
free mobile telephones while operating school buses, except in cases of
emergencies or when the vehicles are lawfully parked on the side of the
road. Currently, under New York State law,' school bus drivers are
prevented only from speaking on hand-held mobile telephones while driv-
ing. While hands-free mobile telephones allow a driver's hands to remain
on the wheel, the hands-free mobile telephones still do not prevent the
distraction that mobile telephones cause.
Twenty-one states including Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island,
California, Minnesota and Connecticut as well as the District of Colum-
bia, currently ban school bus drivers from using any mobile telephones,
including hands-free devices, according to the National Conference of
State Legislatures. New York must join these states in banning hands-
free mobile telephones for all drivers operating school buses while
operating a bus that is carrying students, except in cases of emergency
or when legally pulled to the side of the road.
Safety is paramount. It is vital for school bus drivers to be alert and
focus their whole attention on the road as well as on the student
passengers. It is accepted that hand-held cellphone use is unsafe, but
there is increasing evidence that using a hands-free mobile telephone
can also be extremely distracting to drivers. See Drews, Frank A., Pasu-
pathi, Monisha, Strayer, David L., "Passenger and Cellphone Conversa-
tions in Simulated Driving," Journal of Experimental Psychology:
Applied, Vol. 14 (4), Dec 2008, 392-400). See also Krauss, Gabrielle,
"Cellphone use causes over 1 in 4 car accidents," USA Today, March 28,
2014. Speaking on a hands-free mobile telephone can interfere with
concentration, which may affect driving and may have potentially disas-
trous results on a school bus if a student on the bus is in need of
attention. It is the job of the school bus drivers to transport students
safely and to maintain their security, and so the distraction of hands-
free mobile telephones should be removed. We must take all measures
possible to make our roadways safe and to ensure the secure transport of
our children. Only in specific cases of emergency or when pulled over
to the side of the road should a school bus driver be allowed to u se a
mobile telephone with a hands-free device. Banning the use of hands
-free mobile telephones while operating school buses will result In
safer school bus transportation for all children in New York State.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023 and 2024: A130, referred to transportation/ Same as S.9559,
referred to transportation
2021 and 2022: A.1088, referred to transportation / Same as S.2259,
referred to transportation
2019 and 2020: A.1573, referred to transportation / Same as S.1892,.
referred to transportation
2018: A.10642, referred to transportation / S.8382, referred to trans-
portation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect in sixty days.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
348--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, LUPARDO, SEAWRIGHT, BURDICK, WEPRIN --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. SIMON -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Transportation -- committee discharged, bill amended,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to drivers of
school buses that are carrying students using hands-free mobile tele-
phones
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 1225-c of the vehicle and traffic
2 law is amended by adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
3 (e) No driver of a school bus as defined in section one hundred
4 forty-two of this chapter shall use a hands-free mobile telephone while
5 operating a school bus that is carrying students except in the case of
6 an emergency pursuant to paragraph (a) of subdivision three of this
7 section or if the school bus is parked, for purposes other than dropping
8 off or picking up students, at the side of, or off, a public highway in
9 a location where such vehicle is not otherwise prohibited from stopping
10 by law, rule, regulation or any lawful order or direction of a police
11 officer. This paragraph shall not apply to the lawful use of devices
12 designated for communication between a driver and the dispatch or school
13 district, such as two-way radios or any other device exempted by the
14 commissioner of education, in consultation with the commissioner. The
15 commissioner of education, in consultation with the commissioner, shall
16 be authorized to reevaluate such exempted devices as new technologies
17 emerge.
18 § 2. Subdivision 3 of section 1225-c of the vehicle and traffic law,
19 as added by chapter 69 of the laws of 2001, is amended to read as
20 follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00791-02-5
A. 348--A 2
1 3. Subdivision two of this section shall not apply to (a) the use of a
2 mobile telephone for the sole purpose of communicating with any of the
3 following regarding an emergency situation: an emergency response opera-
4 tor; a hospital, physician's office or health clinic; an ambulance
5 company or corps; a fire department, district or company; or a police
6 department, (b) any of the following persons while in the performance of
7 their official duties: a police officer or peace officer; a member of a
8 fire department, district or company; or the operator of an authorized
9 emergency vehicle as defined in section one hundred one of this chapter,
10 or (c) the use of a hands-free mobile telephone, except in the case of a
11 driver operating a school bus pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision
12 two of this section.
13 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
14 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the state education
15 department and the department of motor vehicles are authorized to
16 promulgate, amend, or repeal any rule or regulation necessary for the
17 implementation of this act on or before such effective date.
