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