TROY — Amateur radio enthusiasts are abuzz on the airwaves over a traffic ticket Steve Bozak received Sunday in Troy as he talked to his buddies over the very same frequency.
Bozak, who owns an antenna company and has been using so-called “ham” radios for 34 years, was pulled over at the intersection of 15th and Hoosick streets while on his way to breakfast with fellow enthusiasts of the technology. He was slapped with a ticket for talking on a cell phone while driving, and he said Officer Mark Millington dismissed his claims that the radio was not in fact a telephone.
“He assured me that I could not be speaking on that cell phone while I was driving,” said Bozak, who lives in Clifton Park. “I mentioned to him politely that it wasn’t a cell phone but an amateur radio. He assured me that it was all the same.”
The section of New York’s vehicle and traffic law Bozak was cited for violating, 1225-c, requires a phone to be “in the immediate proximity” of the driver’s ear. It defines the types of communication devices it applies to as ones “interconnected to a public switched telephone network … provided by a commercial mobile radio service.”
On its face, the statute does not appear to refer to devices like a ham radio, which transmits its signal across the same airwaves as devices used by emergency personnel to communicate with each other and with dispatchers.
Such radios do not require the user to place the device to his or her ear — they are typically played over speakers — and need only be held while the user is actually speaking.
New York is among eight states with a law banning the use of cell phones while driving. Washington’s law specifically excludes ham operators, who must first be licensed by the government to use the airwaves.
Bozak, who became licensed in 1976, said he believes the bulk of users have the devices in their vehicles. He said many are up in arms over the ticket, and some were audible on a scanner Wednesday voicing their displeasure over their radios — many of them while driving.
“I don’t know how many cops I’ve been around in how many different states, but nobody ever said a word to me,” said one man whose job takes him on the road.
Ultimately, a Troy City Court judge will decide whether the ticket issued to Bozak is acceptable under the state’s law.
Sgt. Terry Buchanan, the Police Department’s spokesman who worked traffic patrols for years, said he doesn’t recall this issue coming up in the past. He said the department would have no comment on the matter because it is still pending in court.
Bozak is scheduled to appear on June 23, and he said more than a dozen fellow radio enthusiasts plan on being there with him.
He faces a $100 fine, according to the statute.
“I’ll have my day in court, and we’ll see how it goes,” he said. “But I certainly have every intention of pushing this politely, and through the right methods, to get it resolved.”
The date may be pushed back because Bozak has requested a supporting deposition from Millington, who is typically assigned to Troy’s public schools and rarely works traffic patrol.
Bozak wants Millington to detail what happened and explain how he was breaking the law.
“He’s going to have to prove that I was on a cell phone, which is going to be hard to do,” he said. “I wasn’t on a cell phone.”
Dave Canfield can be reached at 270-1290 or by e-mail at dcanfield@troyrecord.com.