NJ May Allow Cell Phone Confiscations After Accidents

Keep it password-protected, folks

A bill proposed in the New Jersey State Senate would permit police officers responding to a car accident to confiscate the cell phones of the drivers involved.

The bill is sponsored by Republican State Senator James Holzapfel of Ocean County.

The bill states: "Whenever an operator of a motor vehicle has been involved in an accident resulting in death, bodily injury, or property damage, a police officer who reports to the scene of the accident may confiscate the operator's hand-held wireless telephone if, after considering the facts and circumstances surrounding the accident, the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the operator involved in the accident was operating a hand-held wireless telephone while driving a motor vehicle."