MONTICELLO, NY — At a meeting of the Sullivan County General Services Committee on October 5, county clerk Dan Briggs told legislators that penalties for using electronic devices while driving have increased substantially. 
Briggs said, “Now that we have Pok.émon [Go], people are looking for Pokémon, selfies are a big thing, people are taking pictures of passengers in their cars; it has become a real problem in New York State. The governor has noted that it’s the cause of many accidents.”
He said the state has increased the penalties for texting while driving, or taking selfies or otherwise using cell phones or other devices while driving. 
New York State prohibits all drivers from using portable hand-held electronic devices while driving. That includes texting, taking pictures, viewing or sending pictures.
In 2011, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) increased the penalty for a violation of the texting statute from two points on a driver’s license to three points. Briggs said the penalty is now five points. Drivers who accumulate 11 points in an 18-month period may lose their licenses. 
Briggs said the problem is most severe among younger drivers, and the governor also signed a law increasing penalties for probationary and junior drivers. The new law provides that those drivers could face a 120-day suspension for a first offense of the anti-texting statute, and lose their license for one year if a second offense is committed within six months.
All motorists face up to a $250 fine for a first offense in addition to the points on their license.
Retesting challenged drivers 
Briggs said, “Periodically, DMV will get a call from a person who will say, for instance, ‘My mother shouldn’t be driving, I want you to re-test her, she’s a danger out there, but I don’t want her to know it’s coming from me.’” 
He said typically in the past, somebody would write down the request and it would be sent to the regional DMV office in Haverstraw, and his office would not know if action was taken or not. The person who made the request would remain anonymous, and he said, “I would get the call from the mother asking, ‘All right, who turned me in? Was it one of my kids’”?
This process has been changed. There are now forms that are to be filled out by various people. There is a form for law enforcement officials if they observe a situation where the driver might not belong behind the wheel, or if it were reported to them. Attending physicians would also be required to submit a form if there is a question whether one of their patients should be retested. There is another form for the public at large. Briggs said the forms now get submitted to Albany, and the cases are reviewed by a panel which then determines if retesting is required. But the person who submits the form still remains anonymous.