Across New York state, a law was passed a while back making it illegal to be using anything other than a hands-free phone while driving. I don't know how it is in the rest of N.Y. but here on Long Island it seems that almost half of the drivers going by my office every day are on a hand-held phone. But now the law has been given more teeth. As of yesterday, a cel phone violation will now add two points to your NY driver's license and motor vehicle record. That means that if you get a couple of other tickets, a cel phone violation could be the difference that causes your license to be suspended (for accumulating more than 11 points in an 18 month period). Insurance companies will also be more likely to charge for cel phone violations now, although New York car insurance companies use a different point system.
Research has shown that driving while talking on a hand held phone gives you about the same chance of having an accident as driving while under the influence of alcohol. So this is a real issue. Of course, so are other distractions such as applying makeup, texting (possibly the worst) or reading the paper while drinking coffee. The bottom line is that when you get behind the wheel you are now in a potentially deadly weapon, and we all need to be more careful.
Meanwhile in the Long Island homeowners insurance market, if anything it has eased up a little, though the larger carriers continue to cancel and non-renew some homeowners policies, especially along the south shore in Suffolk County. But some new, smaller insurance carriers have come into the market, and competition has caused some pricing to drop. So if you had to buy expensive homeowners insurance because you were canceled or you bought your waterfront home in the past couple of years, you might want to contact your agent to see if he or she can shop around for you a little.
