Cellphone and texting laws

February 2012

Talking on a hand-held cellphone while driving is banned in 10 states (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, 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.

The use of all cellphones by novice drivers is restricted in 30 states and the District of Columbia and the use of all cellphones while driving a school bus is prohibited in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 35 states and the District of Columbia. In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in 7 states (Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia) and school bus drivers are banned from text messaging in 3 states (Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas).

Many localities have enacted their own bans on cellphones or text messaging. In some but not all states, local jurisdictions need specific statutory authority to do so.

The table and maps below show 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.

	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	16-year-old drivers 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; school and highway work zones	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 drivers, drivers in school and work zones¹
California	all drivers	drivers younger than 18	school and transit bus drivers	all drivers	primary: hand held and texting laws; secondary: hands-free 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	all drivers	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	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	all drivers	primary
Kentucky	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
Louisiana	with respect to novice drivers, see footnote²	all novice drivers, see footnote for detail²	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary²
Maine	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	all drivers	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 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	school bus drivers	learner's permit and intermediate license holders and school bus drivers	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	all drivers	no	no	all drivers	primary
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	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	primary
New York	all drivers	no	no	all drivers	primary
North Carolina	no	drivers younger than 18	school bus drivers	all drivers	primary
North Dakota	no	drivers younger than 18	no	all drivers	primary
Ohio	no	no	no	no	not applicable
Oklahoma	learner's permit and intermediate license holders	no³	no	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	all drivers (effective 03/08/12)	primary (effective 03/08/12)
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	drivers younger than 18	bus drivers when a passenger 17 and younger is present	bus drivers when a passenger 17 and younger is present; drivers in school crossing zones; drivers younger than 18	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

¹The laws in Arkansas and California prohibit police from stopping a vehicle to determine if a driver is in compliance with the law. Clearly, that language prohibits the use of checkpoints to enforce the law, but it has been interpreted as the functional equivalent of secondary provisions that typically state the officer may not stop someone suspected of a violation unless there is other, independent, cause for a stop.

²In 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.

³In 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.

⁴Utah'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.