Senate Transportation Committee debates hands‑free texting rules for commercial drivers

The Senate Transportation Committee reviewed language in the House draft (3.1) addressing handheld texting and hands‑free use for commercial motor vehicles, focusing on section 16’s prohibitions and exemptions. Damon Leonard, legislative counsel, summarized that the draft forbids manual texting while providing exceptions for communications with law enforcement and for hands‑free activation or deactivation when a device is "securely mounted" or uses an internal vehicle feature.

Members questioned whether the bill’s activation/deactivation requirement would bar common voice‑to‑text use when a phone is carried on the driver’s person but the driver does not manipulate the device. A committee member noted scenarios such as Apple CarPlay or Bluetooth auto‑connect and asked whether a phone in a pocket that auto‑connects would meet the draft’s definition; Leonard said the current draft permits hands‑free texting but requires secure mounting for activation or deactivation unless the function is performed through an internal vehicle feature.

Matthew Neesto, chief of safety at the Department of Vehicles, told the committee the change was intended "to somewhat standardize it to the regular non‑commercial vehicle section," which the department hoped would reduce evidentiary problems in court when officers could not prove an operator was using a phone. Neesto described how modern commercial vehicles frequently carry electronic logging devices, inward‑ and outward‑facing cameras and other telematics that investigators use after crashes to determine whether device use was a factor.

Neesto also outlined enforcement limits: federal partners can compel data from interstate carriers (those with an active US DOT number) and may suspend operating authority if companies ignore requests, but strictly in‑state operators without federal registration are harder to compel. On penalties, the committee was informed the offense carries two points against a CDL; Vermont’s point threshold for loss of driving privileges is 10 points and repeated major commercial motor vehicle offenses can lead to disqualification.

Committee members asked the Department to confirm intent and recommended drafting a narrow amendment that separates or clarifies exceptions (for GPS/navigation, activation/deactivation and law‑enforcement communications) so standard voice‑to‑text use while a device remains on a driver’s person would not be unintentionally criminalized. The committee agreed to prepare amendments and move the item into a conference committee later in the day.