Our New York State cell phone traffic court lawyers review the facts and circumstances of your case to provide the best defense possible. For example, a strip mall parking lot is not a public highway; Further, to “use” a mobile telephone has a specific meaning. So does “engaged in a call ” and “operating” a motor vehicle. Defense of a New York cell phone ticket turns to focus on permissive conduct as well as understanding prohibited conduct.
Under NY VTL § 1225C(1)(c), the use of a cell phone is defined as “holding a mobile telephone to, or in the immediate proximity of the user’s ear.” However, under the New York State cell phone law, such evidence merely creates the rebuttable presumption that the operator is engaged in a call. Our New York traffic ticket lawyers can defeat your NY cell phone ticket by presenting evidence tending to show that the operator was not engaged in a call. NY VTL § 1225C(2)(b).
The immediate proximity of the ear is defined under NY VTL § 1225C(1)(g) as “that distance as permits the operator of a mobile telephone to hear telecommunications transmitted over such mobile telephone, but shall not require physical contact with such operator’s ear.” This element is taken out of context by the police officer many times. Often our New York cell phone ticket clients are written the ticket because they were using the cell phone’s speaker without the cell phone at or near their ear. This is permissible conduct, and our NY State traffic court lawyers can have your NYS cell phone ticket dismissed on such evidence.
Further, New York VTL § 1225C(1)(f) defines “engaged in a call” as meaning “talking into or listening on a handheld mobile telephone, but shall not include holding a mobile telephone to activate, deactivate or initiate a function of such telephone.” NY VTL § 1225C(1)(d) defines a handheld mobile phone as “a mobile telephone with which a user engages in a call using at least one hand.”
The “takeaway” from these two sections is that a NY motorist can pick up a cell phone to answer or terminate a call but cannot hold the phone in his or her hand to engage in the call. Often times our NY cell phone clients were written a ticket for merely turning on, turning off, answering, or terminating a call in which they were on speaker phone or blue tooth and were not holding the phone while engaged in a call. Our NY cell phone ticket defense lawyers can get your cell phone ticket dismissed upon presenting such evidence.
