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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1010
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4443
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E USE OF MOBILE TELEPHONES BY
EMERGENCY PERSONNEL.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 14-296aa of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 2
passage): 3
(b) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and 4
subsections (c) and (d) of this section, no person shall operate a motor 5
vehicle upon a highway, as defined in section 14-1, while using a hand-6
held mobile telephone to engage in a call or while using a mobile 7
electronic device. An operator of a motor vehicle who types, sends or 8
reads a text message with a hand-held mobile telephone or mobile 9
electronic device while operating a motor vehicle shall be in violation of 10
this section, except that if such operator is driving a commercial motor 11
vehicle, as defined in section 14-1, such operator shall be charged with 12
a violation of subsection (e) of this section. 13
(2) An operator of a motor vehicle who holds a hand-held mobile 14
telephone to, or in the immediate proximity of, his or her ear while 15
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operating a motor vehicle is presumed to be engaging in a call within 16
the meaning of this section. The presumption established by this 17
subdivision is rebuttable by evidence tending to show that the operator 18
was not engaged in a call. 19
(3) The provisions of this subsection shall not be construed as 20
authorizing the seizure or forfeiture of a hand-held mobile telephone or 21
a mobile electronic device, unless otherwise provided by law. 22
(4) Subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not apply to: (A) The use 23
of a hand-held mobile telephone for the sole purpose of communicating 24
with any of the following regarding an emergency situation: An 25
emergency response operator; a hospital, physician's office or health 26
clinic; an ambulance company; a fire department; or a police 27
department, [or (B) any of the following persons while in the 28
performance of their official duties and within the scope of their 29
employment: A peace officer, as defined in subdivision (9) of section 30
53a-3, a firefighter or an operator of an ambulance or authorized 31
emergency vehicle, as defined in section 14-1, or a member of the armed 32
forces of the United States, as defined in section 27-103, while operating 33
a military vehicle, or (C)] (B) the use of a hand-held radio by a person 34
with an amateur radio station license issued by the Federal 35
Communications Commission in emergency situations for emergency 36
purposes only, or [(D)] (C) the use of a hands-free mobile telephone. 37
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) No member of the Division of 38
State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public 39
Protection, authorized pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of 40
section 5-246 of the general statutes to provide police services for a 41
private contractor at a highway construction site, shall use a mobile 42
telephone, as defined in subsection (a) of section 14-296aa of the general 43
statutes, while providing such police services, except such member may 44
use a mobile telephone if such member's radio to allow real-time 45
communication with an emergency response operator, a police 46
department or the Division of State Police is inoperative. 47
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 14-296aa(b)
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit (1) emergency personnel from using a hand-held mobile
telephone when operating a motor vehicle upon a highway, and (2) a
state police officer from using a mobile telephone when providing police
services for private contractors at highway construction sites.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]