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From fines to penalties to points
It’s hard to find someone who’s never texted at a red light or been on a phone call while in traffic. Most of us have been guilty of these forms of distracted driving at some point in our driving careers, but in New York state, they could have some serious penalties.
In this article, we’ll go over what happens if you get a texting or cell phone ticket in New York, and how that’ll affect your auto insurance premiums. You’ll think twice before you engage in a call while driving, if the New York Traffic Violations Bureau has anything to say about it.
Editor’s note (last updated October 2024): We have updated this page with the latest figures on distracted driving deaths and national average expenditures for auto insurance.
Texting and driving in New York is no joke. If you get caught, you’ll be subject to fines and other penalties such as points.
For your first texting and driving offense, you could pay anywhere from $50 to $200 in fines. That latter number increases to $250 for your second offense within 18 months, and to $450 for your third offense and up within the same time period.
Violation | Minimum fine | Maximum fine |
---|---|---|
First offense | $50 | $200 |
Second offense within 1 year and a half | $50 | $250 |
Third or more offense within 1 year and a half | $50 | $450 |
Aside from fines, you’ll get points added to your driving record. For crimes committed after June 1, 2013, you’ll get five driver violation points.
Other penalties apply to Class DJ drivers, Class MJ drivers, and learner’s permit drivers.
Class DJ and MJ drivers aren’t allowed to drive in New York City until they turn 18, while 17-year-olds can drive in NYC if they get their Class D adult license through completion of a state education course.1
As of Nov. 1, 2014, a first conviction will suspend these drivers’ licenses or permits for 120 days, or four months. A second conviction within six months of the license or permit being restored will result in a revocation of either the probationary license or the Class DJ license, Class MJ license, or learner’s permit for a year.
On top of the fines and penalties, drivers will have to pay the Driver Responsibility Assessment Fee (DRAF) over a three-year period if they’ve received six or more points in an 18-month period. The purpose of the DRAF is to prevent repeated problematic driving behavior and improve overall safety.
Number of points | Annual assessment | 3-year assessment |
---|---|---|
6 | $100 | $300 |
7 | $125 | $375 |
8 | $150 | $450 |
9 | $175 | $525 |
10 | $200 | $600 |
If you don’t pay the DRAF, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will suspend your driver’s license, learner’s permit, or driver privileges.
These are the laws surrounding texting and driving in the state of New York:
The one exception to these rules is for commercial motor vehicles stopped at the side of or off a public highway where they’re not prohibited by law, or if a police officer directs them to stop. However, this won’t apply to most people driving for personal reasons.
Vision Zero is an official New York City policy that began in 2014 in hopes of ending traffic injuries and deaths. One of the ways that Vision Zero prevents these injuries and deaths is through enforcement against dangerous violations, like talking on the phone or texting while driving.3
In 2023, distracted driving was the leading cause of car accidents in New York. Law enforcement issued a total of 2,612 tickets throughout the state, which is more than the number of tickets given for any other traffic violation.
In New York, auto insurance isn’t cheap. In general, accidents cause auto insurance costs to increase. The higher the rate of accidents, the more claims insurance companies have to pay. Rather than dipping into their own pockets, the insurers pass these costs on to the customers in the form of higher premiums. New York car insurance laws may allow you to reduce the number of points on your record if you have multiple offenses, but you’ll still pay higher-than-average rates.
While the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) claims that they base this information on traffic violations and accidents from driving records, which explains the 16 percent increase in premiums since 2011,4 we found some conflicting data.
Year | Number of deaths from distracted driving | Average expenditures for auto insurance |
---|---|---|
2011 | 3,360 | $795.01 |
2012 | 3,380 | $812.40 |
2013 | 3,169 | $841.06 |
2014 | 3,197 | $869.47 |
2015 | 3,526 | $896.66 |
2016 | 3,490 | $945.02 |
2017 | 3,242 | $1,006.33 |
2018 | 2,841 | $1,056.55 |
2019 | 3,142 | $1,070.47 |
2021 | 3,214 | $1,046.37 |
2022 | 3,047 | $1,061.54 |
In combining NAIC data on auto insurance expenditures with data from the U.S. Department of Transportation,6 we found that even though the number of deaths from distracted driving decreased by 15 percent between 2011 and 2018, the average expenditures for auto insurance increased by over 30 percent. It’s not entirely clear why the average cost of auto insurance kept rising during that time, but the correlation with distracted driving deaths isn’t direct. Unfortunately, in 2019, distracted driving deaths rose, and they have hovered around 3,000 deaths annually up until 2022 (the most recent year for which we have fatality and NAIC data).
New York takes texting and driving seriously; if you do it, you’ll have to pay a minimum of $50 for your first texting violation. So, next time you’re on a cell phone while driving, put it away, as you might incur a traffic ticket.
If you want to learn more about driving in New York, read our articles on whether you need New York car registration for car insurance. If you’re traveling across the country, read about the fines for texting and driving in California, another one of our auto insurance FAQs.
New York City junior license restriction. New York Department of Motor Vehicles. (2022).
https://dmv.ny.gov/younger-driver/new-york-city-five-boroughs-junior-license-restriction-0
Legislation. The New York State Senate. (2015, Oct 9).
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/VAT/1225-D
Enforcement. New York City Vision Zero. (2022).
https://www1.nyc.gov/content/visionzero/pages/enforcement
DISTRACTED DRIVING. National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (2021 Sept 22).
https://content.naic.org/cipr_topics/topic_distracted_driving.htm
Distracted Driving 2019. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2021, Apr).
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813111
Distracted Driving 2018. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (2020 April).
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812926