State Law: Cell Phones and Driving
Handheld Cell Phone Bans for All Drivers: 5 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Washington), the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands prohibit all drivers from talking on handheld cell phones while driving.
- With the exception of Washington State, these laws are all primary enforcement—an officer may ticket a driver for using a handheld cell phone while driving without any other traffic offense taking place.
All Cell Phone Bans: No state completely bans all types of cell phone use (handheld and hands-free) for all drivers, but many prohibit cell phone use by certain segments of the population.
- Novice Drivers: 21 states and the District of Columbia ban all cell use by novice drivers.
- School Bus Drivers: In 17 states and the District of Columbia, school bus drivers are prohibited from all cell phone use when passengers are present.
Text Messaging: 14 states and the District of Columbia now ban text messaging for all drivers.
- Novice Drivers: 10 states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers.
- School Bus Drivers: 2 states legally restrict school bus drivers from texting while driving.
Preemption Laws: 8 states have laws that prohibit local jurisdictions from enacting restrictions. In 6 other states, localities are allowed to ban cell phone use.
Some states, such as Utah and New Hampshire, treat cell phone use as a larger distracted driving issue.
- Utah considers speaking on a cellphone to be an offense only if a driver is also committing some other moving violation (other than speeding).
Tags: Cars and Trucks · Consumer Rights · Products · Young Adults
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1 Chatty Drivers Slow Traffic, Cell Phone Bans Don’t Help | Just Ask Asa Aarons // Jul 9, 2008 at 11:02 pm
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