New York Gov. George Pataki has proposed a statewide ban on driving while using a handheld mobile phone.

Under the Governor's proposal, which would become effective Dec. 1, violations would be considered a traffic infraction, punishable by a fine of $25 to $100. A second violation within 18 months would be punishable by a fine of $100 to $300. The proposal also would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to impose points on the violator's driver's license.
Emergency calls and calls using hands-free phones would be allowed.
New York is now one of at least 35 states considering such restrictions, but no state has yet adopted any comprehensive legislation. According to published reports, Connecticut's is the closest to enactment, where it has been passed by the House but not the Senate. Some localities in New York State, including Suffolk, Nassau and Westchester Counties, have already passed local laws banning hand-held cell phone use, as have at least 23 countries, including England, Italy, Israel and Japan.
"I don't think there's anyone driving today who hasn't been victimized or cut off by a driver who's holding a cell phone to their ear," said state Senator Carl Marcellino. "Most New Yorkers agree that it is simply unsafe to use a cell phone while driving. Drivers should have both hands on the wheel and their attention focused on the road, not on a cell phone conversation. Local governments have already enacted cell phone bans and others are considering it. Having a uniform statewide law in place, rather than a patchwork of local laws, would eliminate confusion on the part of drivers."
There are no hard statistics as to the dangers of using hand-held mobile phones while driving. In New York, currently the only reporting mechanism available to the law enforcement community is a designation on an accident report form indicating "contributing factors" in which "driver inattention" is listed. However, the accident report form is being updated to include cell phones as a contributing factor.
According to the State Department of Motor Vehicles, distractions or driver inattention such as cell phone use are often under-reported where the base cause of a crash is attributed to another factor, such as road or weather conditions, other vehicle involvement, or pedestrian influence.
The governor also signed an executive order, effective immediately, barring all New York State employees from using state-issued hand-held cell phones while driving and prohibiting the use of any hand-held cell phone by a state employee driving a state vehicle.