US State List on Laws restricting cell phone use and texting

David Walker, LeaseTrader.com — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 14:22:18 GMT

US State List on Laws restricting cell phone use and texting

A jurisdiction-wide ban on driving while talking on a hand-held cellphone is in place in 9 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah, and Washington) and the District of Columbia. Utah has named the offense careless driving. Under the Utah law, no one commits an offense when speaking on a cellphone unless they are also committing some other moving violation other than speeding.

Local jurisdictions may or may not need specific state statutory authority to ban cellphones or text messaging. Several of the many localities that have enacted restrictions on cellphone use include: Oahu, HI; Chicago, IL; Brookline, MA; Detroit, MI; Santa Fe, NM; Brooklyn, North Olmstead, and Walton Hills, OH; Conshohocken, Lebanon, and West Conshohocken, PA; Waupaca County, WI; and Cheyenne, WY.

The use of all cellphones while driving a school bus is prohibited in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

The use of all cellphones by novice drivers is restricted in 28 states and the District of Columbia.

Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 30 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in 8 states (Alabama, Indiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia) and school bus drivers are banned from text messaging in 2 states (Oklahoma and Texas).

The table below shows the states that have cellphone laws, whether they specifically ban text messaging, and whether they are enforced as primary or secondary laws. Under secondary laws, an officer must have some other reason to stop a vehicle before citing a driver for using a cellphone. Laws without this restriction are called primary.

State Laws restricting cellphone use and texting

State	Hand-held ban	Young drivers all cellphone ban	Bus drivers all cellphone ban	Texting ban	Enforcement
Alabama	no	drivers age 16 and 17-year-old drivers who have held an intermediate license for fewer than 6 months	no	drivers age 16 and 17-year-old drivers who have held an intermediate license for fewer than 6 months	primary
Alaska	no	no	no	all drivers	primary
Arizona	no	no	school bus drivers	no	primary
Arkansas	drivers 18 or older but younger than 21	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary: texting by all drivers and cellphone use by school bus drivers; secondary: cellphone use by young drivers1
California	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	school and transit bus drivers	all drivers	primary: texting by all drivers and cellphone use by school bus drivers; secondary: cellphone use by young drivers1
Colorado	no	drivers younger than 18	no	all drivers	primary
Connecticut	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Delaware	all drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
District of Columbia	all drivers	learner's permit holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Florida	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Georgia	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Hawaii	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Idaho	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Illinois	drivers in construction and school speed zones	drivers younger than 19 and learner's permit holders younger than 19	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Indiana	no	drivers younger than 18	no	drivers younger than 18	primary
Iowa	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	all drivers	primary for learner's permit and intermediate license holders; secondary for texting
Kansas	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	all drivers	primary
Kentucky	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Louisiana	no	all novice drivers, see footnote for detail2	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Maine	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
Maryland	all drivers	learner's permit and provisional license holders younger than 18	school bus drivers (hand-held ban)	all drivers	secondary; primary for texting
Massachusetts	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers (effective since 4/12/01) and passenger bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Michigan	no	no	no	all drivers	primary
Minnesota	no	learner's permit holders and provisional license holders during the first 12 months after licensing	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Mississippi	no	no	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
Missouri	no	no	no	drivers 21 and younger	primary
Montana	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Nebraska	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders younger than 18	no	all drivers	secondary
Nevada	no	no	no	no	not applicable
New Hampshire	no	no	no	all drivers	primary
New Jersey	all drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
New Mexico	no	no	no	no	not applicable
New York	all drivers	no	no	all drivers	primary; secondary for text messaging
North Carolina	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
North Dakota	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Ohio	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Oklahoma	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no- 3	school bus drivers and public transit drivers	learner's permit holders, intermediate license holders, school bus drivers and public transit drivers	primary
Oregon	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	no	all drivers	primary
Pennsylvania	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Rhode Island	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
South Carolina	no	no	no	no	not applicable
South Dakota	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Tennessee	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Texas	drivers in school crossing zones	intermediate license holders for the first twelve months	bus drivers when a passenger 17 and younger is present	bus drivers when a passenger 17 and younger is present; intermediate license holders for first twelve months; drivers in school crossing zones	primary
Utah	all drivers	no	no	all drivers	primary for texting; secondary for talking on a hand-held cellphone4
Vermont	no	drivers younger than 18	no	all drivers	primary
Virginia	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	secondary; primary for school bus drivers
Washington	all drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	all drivers	primary
West Virginia	no	drivers younger than 18 who hold either a learner's permit or an intermediate license	no	drivers younger than 18 who hold either a learner's permit or an intermediate license	primary
Wisconsin	no	no	no	all drivers	primary
Wyoming	no	no	no	all drivers	primary

USA Map of hand-held cellphone bans

¹In Louisiana, all learner's permit holders, irrespective of age, and all intermediate license holders are prohibited from driving while using a hand-held cellphone and all drivers younger than 18 are prohibited from using any cellphone. Effective April 1, 2010 all drivers, irrespective of age, issued a first driver’s license will be prohibited from using a cellphone for one year. The cellphone ban is secondary for novice drivers age 18 and older.

USA Map of bans specific to young drivers and all cellphones

²In Oklahoma, learner's permit and intermediate license holders are banned from using a hand-held electronic device while operating a motor vehicle for non-life-threatening emergency purposes.

Cell Phone Restricting

US State List on Laws restricting cell phone use and texting