Hope ahead for us ? I hope so.

Move aside, Breathalyzer. Police in New York may soon be equipped with a "Textalyzer," a device that can determine if a driver involved in a crash was driving while texting.
New York Senator Terrence Murphy and Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz have partnered with Distracted Operators Risk Casualties, an awareness organization, to propose a bill that would allow authorities to examine phones at an accident site.
The Textalyzer purportedly does not provide police with any content on the phone — conversations, contacts, photos, etc.
"I have often heard there is no such thing as a breathalyzer for distracted driving — so we created one," Ben Lieberman, co-founder of DORC, said in a statement. "Respecting drivers' personal privacy, however, is also important, and we are taking meticulous steps to not violate those rights."

Great idea! I hope it's adopted and applied vigorously by the NY cops. If it gets to Chicago and environs I will feel marginally safer. Of course, in Chicago, you have about an equal chance of being shot by the police whether you are the perpetrator or the victim! Probably best to avoid the accident and any contact with local law enforcement!

It has long been against the law in UK to use a "cell" or as we call it a mobile phone whilst driving. Aparrently they can tell from the drivers call history when the last call was made.

oldwingguy wrote:

Move aside, Breathalyzer. Police in New York may soon be equipped with a "Textalyzer," a device that can determine if a driver involved in a crash was driving while texting.
New York Senator Terrence Murphy and Assembly Assistant Speaker Felix Ortiz have partnered with Distracted Operators Risk Casualties, an awareness organization, to propose a bill that would allow authorities to examine phones at an accident site.
The Textalyzer purportedly does not provide police with any content on the phone — conversations, contacts, photos, etc.
"I have often heard there is no such thing as a breathalyzer for distracted driving — so we created one," Ben Lieberman, co-founder of DORC, said in a statement. "Respecting drivers' personal privacy, however, is also important, and we are taking meticulous steps to not violate those rights."

haw haw

DORC (pronounced Dork) - seriously sounds like they would/could use the legality of "probable cause" ie probably was distracted so had an accident - a little too late if you ask me...what if the person had a lock enabled on their phone? FBI had to pay hackers $$$$ to crack that terrorists phone....makes me want to arm myself with a paint gun - just tag their vehicle a couple of times

IMHO it's overkill. That info is already available through phone company records. Of course that requires a warrant to get. I didn't read the bill but it sounds like they want to be able to search the phone without a warrant.

Might be a good idea, but as hankster said... the info should be available through phone records obtainable with a warrant. Even then that may not be good enough for prosecutorial reasons since it would not conclusively implicate the driver that happens to have a cell phone in his vehicle at the time. Unless somebody gets a picture of the driver with the phone in his or her hand at the time of an accident or a witness claims and states that to be fact under oath, there is no way to actually prove that the phone was a distraction. Just because the phone may have been on, that in and of itself could legally be argued to not be conclusive proof of distraction. It could have been used by others in the vehicle at the time, on while streaming, hands free or being used as gps or whatever other ways a phone may be on but not a distraction. Of course that would just be my opinion. Law is a sticky thing. They may try to use such a thing in courts, But I've got a feeling it will loose strength the minute it is challenged.

No I don't think they could legally search a phone in any way without a warrant. (In the USA).
Constitutionally, people have the 4th amendment against unreasonable searches and seizures.

It doesn't sound like the device used by NY law enforcement will do anything but determine if the phone was in use at the time of the accident. It doesn't read content. It shouldn't require any pass codes or warrants and seemingly violates no one's civil rights. In the US, driving licenses are a privilege, not a right. We agree to obey traffic laws. In most US states using a cell phone while driving is a violation of the law and the driving privilege.