HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2457        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2690

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Carolyn C. Dykema

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to the safety of teenage drivers.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Carolyn C. Dykema

8th Middlesex

1/19/2017

James M. Cantwell

4th Plymouth

 

Chris Walsh

6th Middlesex

 


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2457        FILED ON: 1/19/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2690

By Ms. Dykema of Holliston, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2690) of Carolyn C. Dykema, James M. Cantwell and Chris Walsh relative to requiring wireless service providers to provide applications for the promotion of safe driving by teenagers.  Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

_______________

 

An Act relative to the safety of teenage drivers.

 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Chapter 166 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 15E the following section:-

Section 15F. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

“Application”, a small, specialized software program capable of being downloaded onto a wireless device.

“Family plan”, a wireless service plan provided to subscribers with more than 1 end user, whether or not such users are members of the same family, which allows such end users to share the phone, text and data allotments of the wireless service plan.

“Whitelist”, a list of preapproved phone numbers that a wireless device may contact despite an application’s being enabled that would otherwise prohibit outgoing calls.

“Wireless device”, a mobile telephone or any handheld communication device capable of: (1) accessing the internet; (2) downloading an application; and (3) sending and receiving a text message or other electronic message.

“Wireless service”, the transmission of communications, including voice, text and data, between end users via a wireless device.

“Wireless service provider”, any entity that provides wireless service to a subscriber or end user who resides in the commonwealth.

(b) In order to effectively promote safe driving by teenagers, wireless service providers shall provide, or make available for download at least 1 application that prohibits texting while driving by end users under the age of 18.  At least 1 such application shall be provided, or made available for download, at no cost to the family plan subscriber for each end user under the age of 18.  The application, at a minimum, shall provide the following: (1) activates a preset auto-reply message to incoming text messages; (2) disables emailing, incoming and outgoing calls, texting and internet browsing; (3) allows for a whitelist (4) allows a user to quickly and easily dial 911; and (5) prevents a user who is a minor from overriding the application until a motor vehicle is no longer in motion.