U.S. cell phone, texting laws at a glance
Last updated: April 5, 2012 · Print this report · Comment
An up-to-date listing of cell phone and texting restrictions across the States. Click on the state’s name to view a full report on distracted driving laws and legislation.
Alabama: No limits on cell phone use or texting.
Alaska: Drivers are banned from text-messaging or watching videos.
Arizona: School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving. In Phoenix, drivers prohibited from using “personal digital assistants to send or receive a written message” (texting). In Tucson, drivers banned from text messaging as of April 1, 2012.
Arkansas: All drivers prohibited from text messaging. Drivers under 18 may not use cell phones, regardless of whether a hands-free device is employed. Drivers 18-20 must use hands-free attachments while talking on cell phones. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
California: Texting while driving outlawed. Adult drivers (18 and older) must use hands-free devices while talking on mobile phones. Minors are prohibited from using wireless phones while driving — with or without hands-free devices. School bus operators and transit bus drivers prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
Colorado: Text messaging banned for all drivers. Minors (under 18) may not use cell phones while behind the wheel. Drivers with learner’s permits prohibited from using cell phones.
Connecticut: Texting outlawed for all drivers. Adult drivers (18 and older) must use hands-free devices when using mobile phones. Minors are prohibited from using wireless phones while driving — with or without hands-free devices. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
Delaware: Text messaging prohibited. Drivers with learner’s permits prohibited from using cell phones. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
District of Columbia: Drivers must use hands-free devices. Drivers with learner’s permits prohibited from using cell phones. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
Florida: No limits on cell phone use or text messaging.
Georgia: Text messaging banned for all drivers. Drivers under the age of 18 prohibited from use of all cell phones. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving, if passengers are present.
Hawaii: No statewide limits on texting or cell phone use but all Hawaiian counties have laws against use of handheld wireless devices while driving.
Idaho: No limits on cell phone use or text messaging.
Illinois: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. Cell phone use prohibited in school speed zones and construction zones. Drivers under the age of 19 are prohibited from using wireless phones while driving — with or without hands-free devices. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving if passengers are present. In Chicago, all drivers must use hands-free devices.
Indiana: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers while vehicle is in motion. Drivers under the age of 18 may not use cell phones, text messaging units or other wireless telecommunications devices.
Iowa: No limits on cell phone use. Text messaging banned for all drivers; teens with restricted licenses prohibited from using all handheld electronic devices (including cell phones) while behind the wheel.
Kansas: Text messaging outlawed for all drivers. Drivers with permit licenses banned from use of cell phones or texting devices.
Kentucky: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. Use of all personal communications devices banned for drivers under 18 years of age. School bus operators prohibited from non-official use of cell phones while transporting children.
Louisiana: Text messaging banned for all drivers. Drivers under 18 may not use cell phones or text-messaging devices. Drivers licensed for under a year may not use cell phones without hands-free devices.
Maine: Texting while driving outlawed for all drivers (includes email and IM). Maine has a general law against distracted driving that could bring tickets for cell phone use and text messaging. Drivers under the age of 18 prohibited from using cell phones while driving. Drivers with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
Maryland: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. Cell phone use while driving is prohibited unless a hands-free device is employed. Drivers under the age of 18 and drivers with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are prohibited from use of all cell phones.
Massachusetts: Texting prohibited while driving. Use of all cell phones prohibited for drivers who are 16 and 17 years old. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
Michigan: Text messaging outlawed for all drivers. In Detroit, drivers must use hands-free devices.
Minnesota: Drivers under the age of 18 with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving. Text messaging banned for all drivers.
Mississippi: Text messaging prohibited for drivers with restricted licenses.
Missouri: Text messaging prohibited for drivers age 21 or younger.
Montana: No limits on cell phone use or text messaging.
Nebraska: Text messaging outlawed for all drivers on Nebraska’s roads and highways. Drivers under the age of 18 with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones.
Nevada: Handheld cell phone use and text messaging prohibited for all drivers.
New Hampshire: Text messaging and use of electronic devices with two hands are banned for all drivers. No limits on cell phone use.
New Jersey: Drivers must use hands-free devices. Text messaging and use of video games prohibited while driving. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving. Drivers with learner’s permits or probationary licenses are prohibited from using cell phones and other portable wireless electronic devices while driving (includes iPods and devices with hands-free accessories).
New Mexico: No statewide limits on cell phone use or text messaging. Some local ordinances.
New York: Drivers must use hands-free devices for cell phone calls. Text messaging and related Internet use outlawed. Some cities and counties in New York have separate bans on text messaging by drivers.
North Carolina: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. Motorists under the age of 18 with provisional licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving, unless calling parents. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
North Dakota: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. Drivers under 18 prohibited from using electronic communications devices, including cell phones.
Ohio: No statewide limits on cell phone use or text messaging. Toledo, Columbus and a handful of other cities ban texting & driving.
Oklahoma: Inattentive driver law could lead to citations involving cell phones or text messaging. Teen drivers (with junior/restricted licenses) barred from using handheld electronic devices while vehicle is moving.
Oregon: Use of handheld cell phones outlawed for all drivers. Text messaging banned for all drivers. Cell phones use with hands-free attachments are allowed only for drivers over 18 years of age. Drivers under the age of 18 are prohibited from using cell phones or text messaging while driving.
Pennsylvania: Texting and driving outlawed. No statewide limits on cell phone use. Some local ordinances.
Rhode Island: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. Those under the age of 18 also are banned from using cell phones while driving. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
South Carolina: No limits on cell phone use or text messaging.
South Dakota: No limits on cell phone use or text messaging.
Tennessee: Text messaging outlawed for all drivers. Drivers with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving, if passengers are present.
Texas: Drivers with intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving. School bus operators prohibited from using cell phones while driving, if passengers under 18 are present. Drivers under the age of 17 with restricted licenses are prohibited from using wireless communications devices. Drivers prohibited from using handheld devices in school crossing zones.
Utah: Text messaging outlawed for all drivers. No limits on cell phone use.
Vermont: Texting prohibited for all drivers. Drivers under the age of 18 prohibited from using cell phones.
Virginia: Text messaging illegal for all drivers. Drivers with intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving.
Washington: Text messaging prohibited while driving. Drivers must use hands-free devices.
West Virginia: Drivers under age 18 with learner’s permits/intermediate licenses are prohibited from using all wireless communication devices. School bus drivers prohibited from using cell phones while operating the vehicles. New law: Text messaging and handheld cell phone use prohibited for all drivers, effective July 1, 2012.
Wisconsin: Writing and sending of text messages banned for drivers whose vehicles are in motion. OK to read texts. No limits on cell phone use. The state does have a general distracted driving law under which tickets for unsafe cell phone use can be handed out.
Wyoming: Text messaging prohibited for all drivers. No limits on cell phone use.
Guam and the Virgin Islands prohibit all handheld cell phone use while driving.
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.
I honestly think that phone usuage while driving at all should be banned enless for a emergency. No matter if it is hands free or what you are still not concentrating on what you are doing because you are listening to the person on the other line. I have had friends die because of using a cell phone while driving i think it is really dumb.
I wish there were two different roads. One for people who care about driving safely and another for people who think they are at the race track or just don’t give a darn about their lives or the lives of others! Must we have laws for common sense?
Can you post a table showing who has testing bans and hands-free requirements for easy reference? Also, do you have a list to sign up on for updates as they are posted?
Hi Katie, thanks for your questions about HandsFreeInfo.com
This page lists all of the restrictions by state, there is not a chart.
Some state’s rules take a couple of words to explain; others take several long sentences — so I prefer the paragraph style to a chart.
You can sign up for new posts via RSS or email here:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/HandsFreeInfo
(This does not include updates to individual state roundups, which are happening all the time. You can monitor any given state for a “last updated” date.)
Also, the Twitter tracks the new content:
http://twitter.com/HandsFreeInfo
I didn’t see Wisconsin. Do they have bans?
Becky, thanks for pointing out the missing link, it’s there now.
I read on highway Pennsylvania was to go hands-free only next week (January 3 2011). Is this true? When was this information last updated??
Emily — No, the (teen) driving package failed in 2010. You may be hearing about Delaware, whose ban on driving while using handheld devices goes into effect Jan. 2. Read more about states with new distracted driving laws.
There are two kinds of people in the world. Those that can multi-task and those that can’t. “Man’s got to know his limitations” Clint Eastwood
I’m an expert in cellphones (30 years/28 patents). and now I’m an expert witness in cases involving cell phones and wireless devices.
Mostly patent cases but now Texting While Driving Accidents are big.
Let me tell you; If you are talking on a phone, (hands-free or not) you are impaired at the same level as someone who is drunk at .08. That’s legally drunk in every state.
I’ve also got a patent that stops people from texting and driving (or even talking and driving) but I wonder if the phone companies would install it in their networks.
Totally agree with Ben. I don’t talk on the phone while driving, but my husband does…when I am not with him in the car. Laws in states bring them money by giving tickets, but don’t stop all the people from doing it. I would be very happy if cell companies install device actually stopping possibility of using the phone while driving.It will save many lives
My idea revolves around using cell phone jamming devices in personally owned cars, in order to rein in people who are tied to their cell phones, texting, and doing all those things that are normally not done while driving.
The setup I thought of would be deemed a requirement if a cell phone was being used for non-business means while driving the car. The device would only block the frequencies of the cell phones, and not other forms of communications such as police, fire, etc.
There would be a dealer activation required, and once activated it would block only the cell phones used in that car. (I don’t know if these change with different providers. Something to check out.)
I am probably barking up the wrong tree, but I feel that with the proper control, and usage, the idea of a cell phone jammer might prevent a few accidents, and teach people that a cell phone in a car for non-business use, is not a good idea.
Hey J, thanks for sending along your idea about jamming. I’d love to have a pocket cell phone jammer myself, silence some of those yapping-away restaurant patrons and whatnot. The big issue here is that jamming is illegal. This has to do with doctors, police, etc., who need to be on call at all times and can’t have their calls blocked. The closest technology that’s in use are apps that route calls to voice mail once the phone knows it’s going a certain speed.
Each State should provide a hands-free device to every Driver that applys for a license. This way we can rest assure everyone will have the requirement.