What states is it illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving?
Legislative Bans- National Conference of State Legislature (NCSL) reports in 2002-2003 states in the US proposed over 100 bills concerning cell phones in automobiles.Five states considered an outright ban. New York was the first state to pass a law limiting cell phone use, a ban on hand held phone use. Afterwards, ten other states have passed laws regulating cell phone use while driving: AZ, CA, FA, IL, MA, MI, NJ, OK, OR and RI (and OH according to another poster on this question). Other states require police to include cell use in their reports of auto accidents: CA, FL, IO, MD, MA, MC, MN, MO, NB, NJ, OK, OR, PA, TN, TX and UT. As the number of accidents involving cell phones and other technologies continues to rise, legislators may feel more pressure to specifically restrict these technologies in cars, something the industry is trying to deter from happening. Much of the legislation currently in the books do not specifically regulate cellular phone use in automobiles.
May 11, 2009 Fox News article: Here is a list of the current laws that each state has on the books concerning text messages and cell phone calls while driving. Alabama: No Laws Alaska: Illegal for all drivers with the enforcement being primary, meaning that a police officer can pull over a driver for sending a text message even if he isn’t breaking any other traffic laws. Arizona: Only bans school bus drivers from speaking on their cell phone Arkansas: Illegal for all drivers with primary enforcement California: Illegal for all drivers with primary enforcement Colorado: No Laws Connecticut: Illegal for all drivers with primary enforcement Delaware: Illegal for novice drivers with a GDL to send texts or make phone calls with primary enforcement. Also illegal for school bus drivers to make phone calls.
I just called our local police station and asked if it was against the law to talk on a cell phone while driving in Ohio and they said as of right now no it is not against the law. The state may be working on a law to stop the use of cell phones while driving but no law like that is in effect now.
