SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2126        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2272

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Mark C. Montigny

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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 use of video screens while operating a motor vehicle.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2126        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2272

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2356 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to the use of video screens while operating a motor vehicle.

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

SECTION 1. Section 13 of Chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out in lines 27-31 the following words:-

No person shall drive any motor vehicle equipped with any television viewer, screen or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast which is located in the motor vehicle at any point forward of the back of the driver’s seat, or which is visible to the driver while operating such motor vehicle.

SECTION 2. Chapter 90 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 13D.

(a)No motor vehicle registered in the commonwealth shall be equipped with, nor shall be used therein, a television receiver, video monitor, or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal that produces entertainment or business applications, is operating and is located in the motor vehicle at a point forward of the back of the driver’s seat, or is operating and the monitor, screen, or display is visible to the driver while driving the motor vehicle. The operator of a motor vehicle that is not required to be registered in the commonwealth shall not operate a television receiver, video monitor, or a television or video screen or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal that produces entertainment or business applications that violates the provisions of this section while driving in the commonwealth.

The prohibitions contained in this subsection shall not, however, include:

1.Electronic displays used in conjunction with vehicle navigation and mapping systems, or as part of a digital dispatch system;

2.Closed circuit video monitors designed to operate only in conjunction with dedicated video cameras and used in rear-view systems on trucks, motor homes, and other motor vehicles;

3.Television receivers or monitors used in government-owned vehicles by law-enforcement officers in the course of their official duties;

4.Visual displays used to enhance or supplement the driver’s view forward, behind, or to the sides of a motor vehicle for the purpose of maneuvering the vehicle;

5.A vehicle information display;

6.A visual display used to enhance or supplement a driver’s view of vehicle occupants;

7.Television-type receiving equipment used exclusively for safety or  traffic engineering information; or

8.A television receiver, video monitor, television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying a moving image, if that equipment is factory-installed and has an interlock device that, when the motor vehicle operator is performing one or more driving tasks, disables the equipment so that such moving images are not visible to the motor vehicle operator except as a visual display described in subsections 1 through 7. For the purposes of this subsection, “driving task” means all of the real time functions required to operate a vehicle in on-road traffic, excluding the selection of destinations and waypoints, and including steering, turning, lane keeping and lane changing, accelerating and decelerating.

(b)Except for displays explicitly authorized in subsection b, no driver of any motor vehicle shall view any motion picture or similar video display while driving.