Texting While Driving. A New York Update. Westchester Drivers Beware.

Yonkers, New York. July 2011:  Earlier this month, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a new law amending the current texting while driving statute.  In the past, texting while driving was not a primary offense.  This meant that a police officer could not pull over a car for solely texting while driving.  In other words, there had to be another primary offense as the basis of the stop such as speeding or running a red light.

Under the new law, drivers and motorists will be facing up to a $150.00 fine and additional surcharges.  They will also be facing 3 points against their license.  For some drivers, this penalty can cost them their job, a license suspension, or thousands of dollars in insurance increase.

About Our Firm:  If you would like to contest your ticket, feel free to call our traffic ticket attorneys at 914-723-7900 and ask to speak with managing partner, JosephP. Villanueva.  He is a former prosecutor and leads the firm’s criminal and traffic group.

Our attorneys can often be found representing motorist throughout the Hudson Valley but in particular, we can be found in the following courts: Yonkers Traffic Court, North Castle, Armonk, Greenburgh (sometimes misspelled as “Greeberg Town Court”), Yonkers, Dobbs Ferry, Rye City, and Port Chester.
The law penalized more than texting.  Also prohibited is:

• Writing, reading, sending, accessing, retrieving, browsing, transmitting or saving electronic data, including email, text messages or the web pages
• Viewing, taking or sending pictures
• Playing games on a phone

For a free telephone consultation, call our offices at 914-723-7900 or send us an email.

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