IIHS: Texas bans all drivers in school crossing zones from talking on hand-held phones and texting
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Cellphone laws
June 2009
A jurisdiction-wide ban on driving while talking on a hand-held cellular phone is in place in 6 states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, 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.
The law in 6 states (Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) specifically authorizes a locality to ban cellphone use. Localities in other states may not need specific statutory authority to ban cellphones. Localities that have enacted restrictions on cellphone use include: Chicago, IL; Brookline, MA; Detroit, MI; Santa Fe, NM; Brooklyn, North Olmstead and Walton Hills, OH; Conshohocken, Lebanon and West Conshohocken, PA; and Waupaca County, WI.
Localities are prohibited from banning cellphone use in 8 states (Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah).
The use of all cellular phones while driving a school bus is prohibited in 17 states and the District of Columbia.
The use of all cellular phones by novice drivers is restricted in 21 states and the District of Columbia.
Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 14 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in 9 states (Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oregon, Texas, and West Virginia) and school bus drivers are banned from text messaging in 1 state (Texas).
The table below shows the states that have cell phone 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. California and Utah have unusual provisions noted below.
| Laws restricting cellphone use and texting | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Hand-held ban | Young drivers all cell phone ban | Bus drivers all cell phone ban | Texting ban | Enforcement |
| Alabama | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Alaska | no | no | no | all drivers | primary |
| Arizona | no | no | school bus drivers | no | primary |
| Arkansas | drivers ages 18 through 20 (effective 10/01/09) | drivers younger than 18 (effective 10/01/09) | school bus drivers | all drivers (effective 10/01/09) | primary: texting by all drivers and cellphone use by school bus drivers; secondary: cellphone use by young drivers (effective 10/01/09) |
| California | all drivers | drivers younger than 18 | school and transit bus drivers | all drivers | primary1 |
| Colorado | no | drivers younger than 18 (effective 12/01/09) | no | all drivers (effective 12/01/09) | primary (effective 12/01/09) |
| Connecticut | all drivers | drivers younger than 18 | school bus drivers | all drivers | primary |
| Delaware | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders | school bus drivers | learner's permit and intermediate license holders | 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 | no | school bus drivers | no | primary |
| Hawaii | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Idaho | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Illinois | local option | drivers younger than 19 and learner's permit holders younger than 19 | school bus drivers | no | primary |
| Indiana | no | drivers younger than 18 (effective 07/01/09) | no | drivers younger than 18 (effective 07/01/09) | primary (effective 07/01/09) |
| Iowa | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Kansas | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders (effective 01/01/10) | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders (effective 01/01/10) | primary (effective 01/01/10) |
| Kentucky | no | no | school bus drivers | no | primary |
| Louisiana | with respect to novice drivers, see footnote2 | with respect to novice drivers, see footnote2 | school bus drivers | all drivers | secondary; primary for school bus drivers |
| Maine | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders | primary |
| Maryland | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders | no | all drivers (effective 10/01/09) | secondary; primary for texting |
| Massachusetts | local option | no | school bus drivers | no | primary |
| Michigan | local option | no | no | no | not applicable |
| 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 (effective 07/01/09) | primary (effective 07/01/09) |
| Missouri | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Montana | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Nebraska | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders younger than 18 | no | learner's permit and intermediate license holders younger than 18 | secondary |
| Nevada | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| New Hampshire | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| New Jersey | all drivers | learner's permit and intermediate license holders | school bus drivers | all drivers | primary |
| New Mexico | local option | no | no | no | not applicable |
| New York | all drivers | no | no | no | primary |
| North Carolina | no | drivers younger than 18 | school bus drivers | all drivers (effective 12/01/09) | primary |
| North Dakota | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Ohio | local option | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Oklahoma | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Oregon | 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 | secondary |
| Pennsylvania | local option | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Rhode Island | no | drivers younger than 18 | school bus drivers | no | 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 (effective 07/01/09) | primary |
| Texas | drivers in school crossing zones (effective 09/01/09) | intermediate license holders for first six 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 six months; (effective 09/01/05) drivers in school crossing zones (effective 09/01/09) | primary |
| Utah | all drivers | no | no | all drivers | primary for texting; secondary for talking on a hand-held cellphone3 |
| Vermont | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Virginia | no | drivers younger than 18 | school bus drivers | all drivers (effective 07/01/09) | secondary; primary for school bus drivers |
| Washington | all drivers | no | no | all drivers | secondary |
| 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 (effective 07/10/09) |
| Wisconsin | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
| Wyoming | no | no | no | no | not applicable |
1An officer in California can stop a person, regardless of age, holding a cellphone and talking or texting on it, but they may not use checkpoints to enforce the all cell ban for drivers younger than 18.
2During the 2008 legislative session, Louisiana passed 3 different cellphone laws addressing teen drivers. The governor signed all three. As of September 12, 2008, it is unclear whether both hand-held and hands-free phone use is prohibited, or whether only hand-held phone use is banned. All 3 laws prohibit text messaging. A 4th cell phone law prohibits cellphone use by school bus drivers.
3Utah's law defines careless driving as committing a moving violation (other than speeding) while distracted by use of a hand-held cellphone or other activities not related to driving.