In 2011, the state Senate approved that plan (then numbered S2181) to significantly toughen New Jersey’s distracted driving law, with fines starting at $200 and increasing to $600 (plus license suspension and points). It failed to clear the House, however.

S69/S2181 sponsor Sen. Richard Codey pushed for action on his bill in both houses by citing the National Transportation Safety Board’s recent call for a total U.S. ban on cell phone use while driving. “In light of the NTSB’s recent announcement, it would only make sense that we move to get this legislation passed and signed into law,” Codey said Dec. 21.

Current prohibitions:

• Drivers must use hands-free devices while talking on cell phones. ($100 fine plus costs)
• Text messaging and use of video games prohibited while driving.
• School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
• Drivers under the age of 21 with learner’s permits or probationary licenses are prohibited from using cell phones, texting devices and other hand-held or hands-free wireless electronic devices while driving (includes iPods).

Distracted driving notes (2012):
“Enough is enough,” says Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, sponsor of a bill that would allow reckless driving prosecution of distracted driving offenders. Moriarty’s A2199 is dubbed the Kulesh, Kubert, and Bolis Law, referring to New Jersey victims of alleged distracted drivers. Moriarty’s measure also would dump the current $100 fine for a graduated penalty scale that begins at $200.

Distracted driving legislation (2012-2013):
S69: Would hike penalties for violators of state’s hands-free cell phone/texting law. Fines for first-time violators increased by $100, to $200. Second offense in 10 years would bring a $400 fine. Third and subsequent offenses within 10 years of the first would be $600 plus a 90-day license suspension and 3 points against license. Previously S2181. Read the bill as introduced Jan. 10. (Codey)

A1074: Provides for charge of vehicular homicide or assault by vehicle if a death occurs due to a driver’s cell phone use. Driving while using a cell phone would be assumed to be reckless driving. aka Kulesh and Kubert’s Law. Penalties would include prison time and fines up to $150,000, similar to drunken driver punishments. Bill number A2816 in the previous session. Read the Kulesh and Kubert bill as introduced Jan. 10, 2012. (Quijano, Coutinho, etc.)

A1080: Would increase penalties for hands-free cell phone/text messaging law violations. Fines: $200 then $400 and then $600. 90-day driver’s license suspension for third and subsequent offenses and 3 points against license. Previously A3154. Read the bill as introduced Jan. 10. (Quijano, Spencer, etc.)

A1480: Would bar police from seizing cell phones without a warrant. (O’Scanlon)

A1619: For holders of commercial driver’s licenses, would increase fine for texting or using handheld cell phone to $250. Fine would remain $100 for non-commercial drivers. Previously A2437. Read the bill as introduced Jan. 10. (Bramnick, Gove)

A1628: Would make violators of the state electronic distracted driving laws guilty of reckless driving. Fine: $100 and/or imprisonment for up to 60 days. 5 points against driver’s license. Previously A4176. Read the bill as introduced Jan. 10. (Bramnick)

A2199 : Would increase fines for text messaging or using handheld cell phones to $200 (first offense) then $400 and then $600. For more than two violations, 3 points against driver’s license and possible 90-day license suspension. Also clears way for reckless driving prosecution for violators of handheld cell phone law. Aka Kulesh, Kubert, and Bolis Law. Read the bill as introduced Feb. 3. (Moriarty)

A2355/S1179: Would bar drivers of boats from texting and using of cell phones.

2011 distracted driving notes:
SB 2181 sponsor Sen. Richard Codey, D-Essex, has waited a year for further meaningful activity on his legislation, which cleared the Senate in December 2010: “I hope that the Assembly can move on this bill before the current Legislative session is over and that Gov. Christie will sign it as soon as it lands on his desk. … Any further delay will only cause more risk for people on the road,” Codey said shortly after the NTSB recommended a total ban on cell phones and driving in the U.S. The year ended without further activity and the bill was renamed S69 for 2012-13.

Codey said in March 2011: “While New Jersey has appropriately tough laws on the books regarding drinking while driving, the penalties for texting while driving are a mere slap on the wrist.” Codey authored the 2007 legislation that upgraded New Jersey’s handheld cell phone ban to primary enforcement.

New Jersey drivers can’t be cited for having their hands on cell phones, an appellate court ruled. The judges overturned a ruling in Superior Court that said, essentially, that the pushing of buttons wasn’t necessary to operate a cell phone in hands-free mode. The appellate court judges noted that drivers need to punch in phone numbers (or a speed-dial number) in order to initiate a call. The case began after a Tenafly police officer cited a motorist for “pushing buttons” on his cell phone.

Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan saw his A407 signed into law by the governor in late January. It bars train operators and bus drivers from using wireless electronic communications devices.“Hopefully this (enactment will) send a strong message that public safety always supersedes any need to send a text message,” said Diegnan, D-Middlesex. “A text message can wait. Public transportation safety cannot.”

The bills seeking to establish the “Kulesh and Kubert’s Law” (S1950, A2816) were introduced on May 20, 2010, but have not advanced as of February 2011. A tentative hearing has been set before the Assembly’s Law and Public Safety committee on March 3. Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, the committee’s chairman, supports the legislation.

The law would be named after Helen Kulesh, who was killed by a woman driving and talking on a cell phone, and David and Linda Kubert, who both lost a leg after a motorist hit them, allegedly while texting and driving with his elbows. Sen. Raymond Lesniak is the Senate sponsor; Reps. Annette Quijano and Albert Coutinho are the House sponsors.

The Assembly is considering a bill (AB 3312) that would prohibit boat drivers from texting or using cell phones (handheld or hands-free) while on the water.

New Jersey officials suspect distracted driving is partly responsible for an 18 percent increase in collision fatalities in 2011′s first quarter.

State Police say that 24 people were killed in accidents blamed on cell phone-related crashes between 2006 and 2009 and 3,076 others were injured.

2010-2011 legislation:
S2181: Provides for graduated penalties for violators of state’s hands-free cell phone/texting law. (As amended 9/13) fines for first-time violators would be increased by $100, to $200. Second offense in 10 years would bring a $400 fine. Third and subsequent offenses within 10 years of the first would be $600 plus a 90-day license suspension. Approved (4-1) by the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee on Sept. 13, 2010, and then by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (7-4) on Nov. 15, 2010. The plan to establish graduated penalties for distracted driving was approved by the full Senate in a 30-7 vote on Dec. 20, 2010. Latest action: Approved by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee in an 8-0 vote on March 7. Sent to the budget committee. Companion to A3154, below. (Codey and Girgenti).

A407: Prohibits train operators and bus drivers from using wireless telephones and other electronic communications devices. Includes light-rail operators. Fines up to $1,000, imprisonment for six months, or both. Approved by the Senate (38-0 vote) on Oct. 18. Approved by the Assembly (74-0-1) on Dec. 13. Latest action: Signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie on or about Jan. 26, 2011. (Companion bill S732) (Diegnan)

A2331: Would prohibit driving instructors from using cell phones (handheld and hands-free) as well as other handheld wireless communications devices. Formerly A2737. Fines: $25 (first) then $50. (Rumpf)

A2816: Provides for charge of vehicular homicide or assault by vehicle if a death occurs due to a driver’s cell phone use. Driving while using a cell phone would be assumed to be reckless driving. aka Kulesh and Kubert’s Law. Penalties would include prison time and fines up to $150,000, similar to drunken driver punishments. The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee reported favorably on the bill May 19, 2011. Companion bill to S2181, below. (Quijano)

A3154: Seeks tougher graduated penalties for violators of state’s hands-free cell phone/text messaging law. Fines: $200 (first offense), then $400 and then $600 (fines increased via amendment). 90-day driver’s license suspension for third and subsequent offenses. Amended by Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee March 7 and referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee. Companion bill to S2181, which also has been amended to the higher fines shown above. (Quijano)

S1950: Provides for charge of vehicular homicide or assault by vehicle if a death occurs due to a driver’s cell phone use. Driving while using a cell phone would be assumed to be reckless driving. aka Kulesh and Kubert’s Law. Penalties would include prison time and fines up to $150,000, similar to drunken driver punishments. Senate Law and Public Safety Committee voted in favor of bill (4-0) on May 26, 2011. Identical to A2816. (Lesniak)

S1429: Exempts from any distracted driving laws the use of citizen’s band and two-way radios by operators of commercial motor vehicles. A2542 in House. Formerly S2243. Approved by the governor and now law. (Madden)

S732: Transit driver bill substituted by A407, above. (Sacco)

Use the following link to search for full reports on New Jersey distracted driving bills. (State’s web site does not allow direct links to bills.)

2010 distracted driving notes:
Sen. RIchard Codey sponsored S2181, which toughens penalties for cell phone use. “It is time to take serious action against those who would put themselves and the public at risk,” Codey said upon the bill’s passage in the Senate on Dec. 20. “Texting while driving is a lethal, dangerous activity that goes about essentially unpunished in New Jersey.”

New Jersey law agencies are writing about 10,000 tickets a month for driving and using handheld cell phones, or for driving and text messaging. A407, which restricts public transit drivers from text messaging, is a repeat of last session’s A3358. Approval in both houses was unanimous.

More SB 2181: Sen. Codey told a Senate panel: “Despite public outreach, despite the dangers, despite police crackdowns, we still see drivers on our roads ignoring common sense and violating the state’s hands-free cell phone law.” The committee agreed, advancing his bill in a 4-1 vote on Sept. 13.

The Division of Highway Traffic Safety said about 225,000 tickets were issued in the two-year period after New Jersey’s handheld cell phone law went into effect in March 2008. About 3,600 accidents were linked to handheld cell phone use in that period. Between 2006 and 2008, 5,500 phone-related accidents were reported.

In 2009, accidents linked to handheld cell phone use by drivers numbered 1,789. Six people died in those crashes, authorities said.

The New Jersey Graduated Driver License Law was updated May 1 in part to clarify the ban on all uses of hand-held or hands-free interactive wireless communication devices for drivers with probationary (provisional) licenses. They are prohibited from using any kind of controls on these devices, including buttons and keys.

The AAA Clubs of New Jersey report that almost all state drivers believe other motorists are distracted by cell phones — but only 52 percent admit to talking and driving themselves. 37 percent of drivers between the ages of 18 and 29 said they used text messaging devices or cell phones while behind the wheel.

2009 legislation:
A3358: Would have prohibited operators of public transit vehicles from text messaging while vehicles are moving. Includes light-rail operators. Combined with A3285, which addressed texting and railway operators. (Same as S2536.)

Legislation notes:
A3358 is sponsored by Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan Jr., D-Middlesex. It cleared in the transportation committee as a substitute on Jan. 26, 2009.

Diegnan’s ban on texting while driving public transit vehicles calls for fines of up to $1,000 and six months in jail. It is one of the many texting-related bills filed nationwide in response to the L.A. commuter crash.

Twin House and Senate bills that would have exempted truckers from the state’s ban on handheld cell phone use failed to advance in the 2009 session. Specifically, the bills would have approved use of citizen’s band radios and two-way radios. The House bill was approved, but the Senate left the legislation in committee. (AB 3084, SB 2242)

The Assembly has approved a plan for drivers with limited licenses (teenagers, usually) to place an identifying placard on their vehicles. Part of the idea is to help police enforce New Jersey’s law that prohibits motorists under the graduated driver program from talking on a cell phone, regardless of whether a hands-free device is employed. The Assembly vote came March 5 and the plan awaits the governor’s signature.

Eighteen municipalities in seven New Jersey counties undertook a two-week crackdown on drivers ignoring the state’s cell phone law for motorists. The March 2009 “Hang Up, Just Drive” program was funded by the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, which reported an drop in reports of illegal cell phone use after the sweep.

New Jersey was one of the first states to ban hand-held cell phone use and text messaging while driving. It also was a leader in prohibiting cell phone use by drivers with permits. In 2007, its existing cell phone driving law was updated to a primary offense, meaning police can stop suspected violators solely for that reason. The texting rules went into effect in March 2008.