HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3725        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2846

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Carolyn C. Dykema

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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.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3725        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2846

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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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, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, 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.