Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1225-c, which initially became effective in 2001, prohibits individuals from operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile telephone to engage in a call while the vehicle is in motion. The law provides specific definitions including that “using” refers to the individual holding the phone to or near the user’s ear. “Engaging in a call” refers to talking into or listening on the device, but does not include holding the phone to “activate, deactivate or initiate a function of” the phone. This law then further provides a presumption that a driver holding the phone to or in the “immediate proximity” of his/her ear while the vehicle is in motion is in fact engaging in a call. The motorist has the opportunity then to defend against this presumption. (more…)

Tags: cell phone driving, cell phone ticket, primary offense, section 1225-c, section 1225-d

Article 26 of the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law covers right of way violations. Two statutes pertain to emergency vehicles and one has recently been modified to apply to hazard vehicles. The obvious goal of the legislature in creating these statutes is to protect the safety of individuals who are in the process of responding to an emergency or who are in a vulnerable position on the side of a road while doing their jobs.

Vehicle and Traffic Law Section 1144 in essence requires a driver to yield the right of way and to immediately drive to the right hand edge or curb of the roadway (or to either edge of a one way roadway with three or more lanes) and then to stop and remain stopped until the emergency vehicle has passed unless otherwise directed by a police officer. This section requires the emergency vehicle to be immediately approaching with at least one emergency red light visible from a distance of 500 feet and with the sounding of an audible signal such as a siren. (more…)

Tags: article 26, move over law, section 1144, section 1144(a)

In November 2009, Governor Paterson signed the Child Passenger Protection Act, also known as Leandra’s Law. The law is named after Leandra Rosada who was eleven years old when she was killed while in a vehicle operated by a friend’s drunken mother. (more…)

Tags: Child Passenger Protect Act, Leandra Rosada, Leandra's Law, ROAD SAFE Act

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with a potential client who had acknowledged with her spouse a need to achieve at least a legal separation and possibly a divorce.  Her main questions were focused on how that process would work as she had some ideas regarding traditional divorce litigation, mediation and collaborative law.  Her case was not unlike pretty much all others in that (more…)

Tags: collaborative law, dispute resolution model, divorce, divorce litigation, divorce mediation, Family law, legal separation, Matrimonial Law