Between April 23, 2012 and April 29, 2012, police officers statewide (especially along the New York Thruway) will be strictly enforcing the distracted driver laws. Dubbed “Operation Hang Up”, any motorist caught using a cell phone or other electronic device in violation of the law will be issued a 3-point traffic ticket. We urge you to obey this law for safety reasons (and also to avoid being issued a traffic ticket).
During the first “Operation Hang Up”, Thanksgiving weekend 2011, over 800 traffic tickets were issued for distracted driving. We expect even more to be issued this time around.
Of course, Operation Hang Up is not the only time that such times are issued. In fact, more than 65,000 motorists have been issued traffic tickets for using an electronic device while driving in 2012.
Cuomo said regarding this initiative: “We hear too many heartbreaking stories about how distracted driving leads to tragic consequences, and we must do everything in our power to ensure more lives are not unnecessarily lost because someone took their eyes off the road to use a phone.” According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 3,000+ deaths last year due to distracted driving.
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I think the hands free law would be a better model for a federal law than simply banning all cell-phone texting while driving. When you have both hands free, it is no different that talking with a passenger while driving.