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 17 states and the District of Columbia. Louisiana has passed a law restricting teen use of cellphones, but as of this writing, it is not clear whether it bans all cellphone use or use of hand-held cellphones.

Text messaging is banned for all drivers in 7 states (Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington) and the District of Columbia. In addition, novice drivers are banned from texting in 9 states (Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia) and school bus drivers are banned from text messaging in 4 states (Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia).

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. Read More...