Cell phone and texting tickets in New York

The mismatch worth understanding

A first phone ticket carries a fine of $50 to $200. It also carries 5 points. Set that against the DMV table: 5 points is what reckless driving carries, and more than the 4 points for speeding 11 to 20 MPH over.

Two phone tickets inside 18 months puts 10 points on your record, one point short of the suspension threshold, while costing perhaps $400 in fines. The fine is not the part to plan around. See points and insurance.

Two different sections

New York splits distracted driving across two statutes, and which one you are charged under depends on what you were doing with the device.

• VTL § 1225-c, mobile telephones. Covers holding a phone to, or in the immediate proximity of, your ear to engage in a call. "Engage in a call" means talking into or listening on a hand-held phone.
• VTL § 1225-d, portable electronic devices. Broader. Covers holding a device while viewing, taking or transmitting images, playing games, or composing, sending, reading or accessing email, texts, instant messages or web pages. The definition reaches phones, tablets, laptops, pagers and electronic games.

Both are traffic infractions rather than crimes, both carry the same fine tiers, and both carry the same 5 points.

Fines

VTL §§ 1225-c(4) and 1225-d(6). A mandatory state surcharge is added on conviction and is not included here.

The two elements people argue about

"While the vehicle is in motion"

For an ordinary vehicle, both sections are written around use while the vehicle is in motion. Commercial vehicles are held to a stricter rule, the statute reaches a commercial driver on a public highway including while temporarily stationary because of traffic, a traffic control device or other momentary delays.

There is a carve-out for a commercial vehicle stopped at the side of, or off, the highway somewhere stopping is not otherwise prohibited. Whether a given stop sits inside or outside the statute is a question of fact, and it is worth asking about rather than assuming.

The presumption is rebuttable, and the statute says so

Holding a phone to your ear while in motion presumes you were engaging in a call. Holding a portable device "in a conspicuous manner" presumes you were using it.

But both sections then state, in terms, that the presumption is rebuttable by evidence tending to show that the operator was not engaged in a call or not using the device. That is written into the statute, not read into it. It does not make the ticket go away, and it is not a promise about your case. It means the question is open rather than closed.

Exceptions in the statute

• Use for the sole purpose of communicating about an emergency with an emergency response operator, a hospital, a physician's office or health clinic, an ambulance company or corps, a fire department or a police department.
• Police and peace officers, members of a fire department, and operators of authorized emergency vehicles, while performing official duties.
• Hands-free phones, under § 1225-c. With the caveat above for commercial drivers, for whom a phone dialled or answered by pressing more than a single button is not treated as hands-free.

If you hold a CDL

Say so on the first call. The statutes hold commercial drivers to a stricter standard in three separate places, and a motor carrier is separately prohibited from allowing or requiring its drivers to use a hand-held phone or portable device while operating a commercial vehicle. What resolves an ordinary driver's ticket may not do the same work for a commercial license.

Questions people ask

How many points is a cell phone ticket in New York?

Five. That is the same as reckless driving and more than speeding at 20 MPH over the limit. The fine is modest by comparison, which is why people underestimate the ticket, two of these inside 18 months puts ten points on your record.

What is the difference between the talking and texting sections?

Section 1225-c covers holding a phone to your ear to engage in a call. Section 1225-d covers holding any portable electronic device to view, take or send images, play games, or read or write messages and email. They carry the same fines and the same five points.

Is it legal to use my phone at a red light?

For an ordinary vehicle the statute prohibits use while the vehicle is in motion. Commercial vehicles are treated more strictly and are covered while temporarily stationary in traffic or at a traffic control device. Whether a particular stop falls inside the statute is fact-specific.

The officer says he saw me holding it. Is that automatic?

No. Both sections create a presumption rather than a conclusion, holding a phone to your ear, or holding a device in a conspicuous manner, presumes use. The statute states in terms that the presumption is rebuttable by evidence tending to show you were not using the device.

What about emergency calls?

The statute excepts use for the sole purpose of communicating about an emergency with an emergency operator, a hospital, a physician office or health clinic, an ambulance corps, a fire department or a police department. Police, peace officers, firefighters and emergency vehicle operators on duty are also excepted.

Does hands-free count as a violation?

Section 1225-c does not apply to a hands-free phone. There is a caveat for commercial drivers: a phone is not treated as hands-free for them when they dial or answer it by pressing more than a single button, which is a stricter standard than the one ordinary drivers face.

Sources

NY VTL § 1225-c — Use of mobile telephones ·NY VTL § 1225-d — Use of portable electronic devices ·NYS DMV — Driver Point System
Statutory text and point value verified August 2026. This page describes what the statutes provide and is not advice about your own ticket.

Related: points and insurance ·speeding tickets ·Syracuse traffic tickets ·traffic tickets across Central New York