Index: Cell phone laws, legislation by state

See what your state’s cell phone and texting laws for drivers prohibit — or are about to prohibit. The majority of U.S. states have restrictions on drivers’ use of handheld electronics, or are about to limit their use.

You are responsible for knowing the distracted driving laws while motoring in any state or municipal area.

See also: State distracted driving laws chart.

View distracted driving laws and legislation by state:

Alabama – Alaska – Arizona – Arkansas – California – Colorado

Connecticut – Delaware – District of Columbia – Florida – Georgia – Hawaii

Idaho – Illinois – Indiana – Iowa – Kansas – Kentucky – Louisiana – Maine

Maryland – Massachusetts – Michigan – Minnesota – Mississippi – Missouri

Montana – Nebraska – Nevada – New Hampshire – New Jersey – New Mexico

New York – New York cities, counties – North Carolina – North Dakota

Ohio – Oklahoma – Oregon – Pennsylvania – Rhode Island – South Carolina

South Dakota – Tennessee – Texas – Utah – Vermont – Virginia

State of Washington – West Virginia – Wisconsin – Wyoming

Interstate truck drivers and bus drivers prohibited from handheld cell phone use and text messaging, due to federal regulations that went into effect Jan. 3, 2012.

Rhode Island: Cell phone laws, legislation

Cell phone, texting update: : For the 2012 session, state Sen. Susan Sosnowski refiled her plan for a ban on handheld cell phone use while driving. Rhode Island already outlaws texting & driving. That distracted driving law went into effect in November 2009.

An unusual bill in the House would mandate that drivers caught using text messaging install a blocking device that prevents cell phone calls and texting. The Judiciary Committee recommended the plan from state Rep. Charlene Lima be “held for further study,” as it did in 2011.

Current prohibitions:

• Text messaging outlawed for all drivers on Rhode Island roads.
• Drivers under the age of 18 prohibited from using cell phones.
• School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.

Read Rhode Island’s texting & driving statute.

2012 distracted driving legislation
Senate Bill 2223: Would ban use of handheld mobile phones while driving. Includes general distracted driving provision. Fine: $100, which can be waived if a first-time violator shows proof of a subsequent hands-free device purchase. (Sosnowski)

SB 2416: Would establish a legal presumption of negligence if a driver is involved in a crash while using a cell phone. Driver using cell phone will be presumed to be the cause of the accident. Applies to civil litigation. (Cote, Sosnowski)

HB 7204: Would rewrite current texting law to add mandatory requirement that violators have texting and cell phone blocking device placed in vehicle. People convicted of texting and driving cannot operate any vehicle without blocking device, and if caught do so would lose license for one year (first offense), then two years. Judiciary Committee recommended the bill be held “for further study” on Feb. 28 (see 2011′s HB 5870, below). (Lima, McNamara)

HB 7110: Right to privacy legsislation that ould require search warrants for police who want to view possibly incriminating information on personal electronic devices. Judiciary Committee recommended the bill be held “for further study” on March 13. (Ajello)

2011 distracted driving legislation
Senate Bill 242: Would outlaw use of handheld cell phones by all drivers in Rhode Island. Fine: maximum of $100. A first offender can have fine suspended by showing proof of purchase of a hands-free device for the cell phone. Judiciary Committee recommended the bill be held “for further study” on May 5. (Sosnowski)

SB 346: Would prohibit drivers under the age of 21 from using handheld cell phones to talk or text message while vehicle is in motion. Fine: up to $100. First offenders’ fines suspended provided they prove they bought a hands-free accessory for the mobile phone. Approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in a unanimous vote on June 14. (Lombardo)

HB 5870: Would prohibit the use of “wireless handsets” while driving in Rhode Island. Upon conviction, violators must install a device blocking cell phone calls and text messaging in their vehicle. Fine $85 (first offense) then $100 and then $125. Drivers ordered to block their wireless devices but do not are subject to one-year and then two-year license suspensions. Judiciary Committee recommended the bill be held “for further study” on April 4. (Lima)

2010 legislation
HB 7103: Would prohibit motor vehicle drivers and bicyclists from using cell phones unless a hands-free accessory is employed. Ear phones and headsets cannot cover both ears. Fines of $35 to $140. (Kilmartin)

HB 7117: Would create a general inattentive-driving law that comes into play when driver has committed a moving violation. $50 fine in addition to any other fines. (Kilmartin)

HB 7031: Would prohibit use of handheld mobile phones on Rhode Island roads and highways. Use of cell phones OK if a hands-free attachment is employed. $100 fine for first-time violator who shows proof of purchase of a hands-free attachment. (Giannini)

2009 legislation:
HB 5021 and SB 204 (Substitute A): Bans sending, reading or writing a text messaging while driving a motor vehicle. Approved by the Rhode Island Senate on April 7. (SB 204 was filed as a handheld cell phone ban.) Approved by the House on Oct. 29 and sent to the governor. Signed into law by the governor on Nov. 10, 2009, and effective immediately.

HB 5022 seeks to ban drivers from cell phoning unless a hands-free device is utilized. Also targets text messaging.

HB 5242 would change the existing law against driving or bicycling while wearing earphones or headphones to add a ban against handheld cell phones.

HB 5198 would bar minors from text messaging while driving.

HB 5604: Seeks to ban text messaging while driving on Rhode Island roads.

SB 8: Would outlaw texting while driving. Held in committee. (See SB 204 above)

Legislation notes:
Rep. Peter Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket, and Sen. Susan Sosnowski, D-South Kingstown, pushed through the General Assembly the ban on text messaging while driving on Rhode Island roads. It brings a $85 fine for the first offense, $100 for the second and $125 for the third. The DOT ran an ad campaign alerting drivers to the Rhode Island texting and driving law.

Kilmartin said after House approval of the texting ban on Oct. 29: “The bill we passed addresses the most egregious form of distracted driving, but I still believe we should pass hands-free cell phone legislation and I will continue that fight next year.”

Debate on the texting ban included criticisms that the bill did not go far enough and ban cell phone use by drivers. “I realize this is a 10-year effort, and if we can get the most egregious offense out of the way at this time I’m happy doing this,” Kilmartin said.

In 2001, the General Assembly passed Kilmartin’s bill banning handheld cell phones. The Rhode Island governor vetoed the legislation, which would have created one of the nation’s earliest cell phoning while driving laws. Kilmartin, a former policeman, was almost hit by a driver using a handheld electronic device a decade ago.

Sen. Sosnowski sponsored the Senate cell phone and text messaging bills. Under the texting legislation, approved by the Senate on April 7, fines scale from $50 to $75 to $100.

After her texting legislation cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee — but not her handheld cell phone ban — Sosnowski said: “I think it’s a good start. … Texting is just so dangerous, and we have to tell people this is not acceptable, especially our young drivers.”

Minnesota: Cell phone laws, legislation

Distracted driving updates:Distracted driving is a factor in one out of four vehicle crashes in Minnesota, State Police say. In 2011, about 350 people died in vehicle accidents overall, the lowest number since the 1940s.

No distracted driving legislation found success in 2011 or 2010. A texting ban became law in 2008, but State Police complain it is “a very difficult law to enforce.”

The Legislature returned Jan. 24, 2012. There appears to be no new distracted driving legislation.

The wife of ex-Minnesota Viking tight end Joe Senser hit and killed a man while on a cell phone, prosecutors say. Amy Senser then allegedly fled the scene. She faces three vehicular homicide charges.

Current prohibitions:

• Text messaging and Internet use outlawed for all drivers.
• Drivers under the age of 18 with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones.
• School bus drivers barred from using cell phones for personal reasons while vehicle is in motion.

Read the statutes: Texting | teen cell phones

2011-12 distracted driving legislation:
Senate Bill 18: Would ban use of cell phones by all drivers on Minnesota roads and highways. No exception for hands-free operation. (Wigel)

House Bill 85: Mandates a one-year license suspension for drivers who cause a death by operating a vehicle “carelessly or heedlessly in disregard of the rights or safety of others.” (Murrow)

HB 68: Adds “careless driving resulting in death” section to statutes as a gross midemeanor. Approved by the House Public Safety committee on Jan. 31. (Garofalo)

Distracted driving notes (2011-2012):
The Department of Public Safety says distracted driving accidents are “vastly underreported due to law enforcement’s challenge in determining distraction as a crash factor.” In 2011, about 350 people died in vehicle accidents overall. In 2010, there were 411 traffic deaths.

2010 distracted driving notes:
State Rep. Frank Hornstein, D-Minneapolis, says a bill is being crafted for 2011 that would toughen the state’s distracted driving law. Minnesota was the third state to approve a ban on text messaging and driving. That law went into effect Aug. 1, 2008. A violation is a petty misdemeanor.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota spoke at the Second Distracted Driving Summit in September, noting “no text message is worth dying for.” Klobuchar is a cosponsor of the Distracted Driving Prevention Act and supports the ALERT Drivers Act, both of which push states to adopt traffic laws against text messaging and handheld cell phone use.

A new state group called Pay Attention and Drive is collecting stories from survivors of distracted driving accidents.

Between 2006 and 2008, there were 60,000 accidents in Minnesota blamed on distracted driving. About 200 lives were lost. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says distracted driving kills 70 people a year and injures another 350. Distracted driving contributes to one in four accidents statewide, resulting in about 70 deaths a year, the department reports.

The Department of Public Safety reported that 930 citations have been written statewide since the August 2008 enactment of the Minnesota text messaging and driving ban (period ending July 2010). In 2009, only 390 tickets were handed out.

Minnesota police conducted a statewide distracted driving crackdown for the second anniversary of the texting and driving ban’s enactment on Aug. 5, 2010. In September, Ramsey County (St. Paul) conducted a text messaging sweep.

The House and Senate transportation committees on March 3 held a joint hearing on cell phone use by drivers. Dave Teater of the National Safety Council and the activist group Focus Driven told how his son was killed by a driver chatting on a mobile phone. Opposing a ban on handheld cell phone use by adults were Verizon Wireless and AT&T. The Verizon spokesman suggested that drivers “if possible suspend the call in heavy traffic.”

Rep. Sandra Masin, D-Eagan, is the chief author of HB 2351.

Mike Jaros, D-Deluth, has sought a complete ban on drivers using cell phones. His stepson was in a vehicle that was rammed by a cell-phoning driver, but survived.

Katherine Burke Moore, deputy director of the Office of Traffic Safety, told the Star Tribune: “We forget that driving is already a multi-tasking activity. Even when we do it every day, we’re checking mirrors, scanning around the car, and watching for brake lights. Any other distraction is unsafe.”

The Department of Public Safety and AAA (Minnesota/Iowa) ran a competition in which teenagers made television PSAs that educate viewers about the dangers of texting while driving. The winning entry was titled “Moms, Alcohol and Texting.”

2010 legislation (dead):
HB 1339: Would outlaw use of handheld cell phones by drivers. School bus drivers and those with instruction permits not allowed to use cell phones at all. Companion to SB 593, below. (Ruud)

SB 593: Seeks to outlaw use of cell phones by drivers, unless a hands-free device is employed. Bans all cell phone use by drivers with instruction permits. Would outlaw use of cell phones by school bus drivers. Companion to HB 1339, above. Approved by the Senate Transportation Committee on March 11 and advanced to a second reading.(Bonoff)