Anyone involved in a car crash in New York may soon have to submit not just blood-alcohol content but a cellphone to police at the scene, or else risk losing his or her license.

A new law proposed by state senator Terrence Murphy and assemblyman Felix Ortiz would give police permission to search any phone or portable device at the scene of an accident. Cellebrite, an Israeli company that helps law enforcement crack smartphones, is marketing a device it’s calling a “textalyzer” that would analyze a driver’s phone.

The bill reads in part: “Any person who operates a motor vehicle in this state shall be deemed to have given consent to field testing of his or her mobile telephone and/or portable electronic device for the purpose of determining the use thereof while operating a motor vehicle provided that such testing is conducted by or at the direction of a police officer, after such person has operated a motor vehicle involved in an accident or collision involving damage to real or personal property, personal injury or death.”



The proposed law further says that any refusal to comply with a police officer demanding to search an accident victim’s cellphone at the scene will lose his or her driver’s license, even if that person is not found to be at fault in the accident. The law would also suspend “non-resident operating privilege” – the right of drivers with non-New York licenses to drive their cars in the state.



No provision in the bill is made for people who don’t have their cellphones with them.

The bill was announced in collaboration with activist group Distracted Operators Risk Casualties (Dorcs), a group founded by parents of children involved in crashes caused by drivers distracted by their devices. Should it pass the legislation will be called Evan’s Law, after Dorcs co-founder Ben Lieberman’s 19-year-old son, who was killed in a collision caused by a distracted driver in 2011.

Cellebrite’s forensics division returns some $100m annually to the company in revenue according to a 2013 report; in March the company signed a $346,500 deal with the US Department of Homeland Security to sell the US government its cellphone-cracking universal forensic extraction devices, or Ufeds.

“We look forward to supporting Dorcs and law enforcement – both in New York and nationally – to curb distracted driving,” said Cellebrite’s CEO, Jim Grady, in a press release.