Cell Phone Driving Laws by State, Graded

Alex Kerai Consumer Trends Reporter

Updated 12 September 2023

At WhistleOut, we want you to use your cell phone, but be safe while doing so—especially when driving. We are vehemently against distracted driving and are tracking the states that stand with us in banning cell phone use on the road. As we noted in our companion report, distracted driving deaths account for 8.8% of all fatal motor vehicle collisions in the United States.

One impactful way to prevent distracted driving on the road is for states to pass and enforce laws on cell phone use while driving. We looked at each state to see which laws around cell phone use have been passed and are enforced, and then graded each state’s effort.

Unfortunately, no state had laws fully enforcing all three categories: a handheld ban, a young driver cell phone ban, and a texting ban. However, we did find 22 states that have an “A” grade and are the best at passing laws to protect their drivers from cell phones.

Let’s pull over to the side of the road, open those law textbooks, and brush up on our Schoolhouse Rock as we dig into U.S. cell phone driving laws by state and grade each state’s effort.

What are cell phone driving laws?

The three most common laws restricting cell phone use and texting in each state are a handheld ban, a young driver cell phone ban, and a texting ban.

A handheld ban prohibits holding a cell phone in your hand to utilize it while driving. Rather, you can connect your phone to your car using hands-free options like Bluetooth. A texting ban is also exactly like it sounds: no texting while driving. The young driver cell phone varies by state: most states ban drivers under 18 from using a cell phone at all while driving, with the ban sometimes extended up to age 21.

Each state enforces different laws, as you’ll see in our chart below.

Findings: Cell phone driving laws

Let’s start with the bad news: no state has laws fully enforcing all three categories—a handheld ban, a young driver cell phone ban, and a texting ban. However, the states that ranked at the top of our list had two out of three and a partial ban for the third.

The “A” states have a handheld ban and a texting ban.
Those same states also have a partial young driver cell phone ban that extends to certain young drivers.

Conversely, Montana is the only state with zero laws or bans in place.

Therefore, Montana received an “F” grade in our report.

The only other state that comes close to Montana with such limited laws in place is Missouri, which only offers a partial texting and driving ban.

Overall, only two states received an “F” score, and five states received a “D.” The majority of U.S. states received a “C” or above—a passing grade.

21 states and D.C. received an “A.”
Nine states were graded as a “B.”
13 states scored a “C” in our report.

As we’ve found in our study on distracted driving-related fatalities, cell phone use is a major culprit for drivers. But do laws on the books really work? We’ve found that they do—in fact, states that have sufficient laws against cell phone use see fewer distracted driving fatalities.

Connecticut, which received an “A” grade for its cell phone driving laws, ranks among the top 5 states with the fewest distracted driving fatalities.
Unfortunately, it’s not a surprise then that Montana is among the top 5 states with the most distracted driving-related fatalities.

Less than half of U.S. states get an "A"

Only 21 states plus D.C. have distracted driving laws in place to protect drivers and passengers on the road; all 21 received an “A” grade. However, as we’ve noted, these laws aren’t perfect.

All of the states that scored an “A” only have a partial young driver cell phone ban in place.

The handheld ban extends to 26 states plus D.C., including five states graded “B” in our ranking.

Those “B” states do not have a young driver ban in place.
The other four “B” states have a partial young driver ban and a partial handheld ban.

Only two states are failing—but five more are close

Looking at distracted driving laws by state, you might be pretty impressed to find that only two states scored at the very bottom. But look more closely and you’ll see that the five states graded “D” don’t have any handheld or young driver cell phone bans in place. Add to that the 11 “C” states that also have no hand-held ban in place.

In total, 18 states do not have a handheld cell phone ban, meaning you can be on your phone in any capacity while driving.

What is impressive is that 48 states and D.C. have a reported texting ban in place. That’s progress, but the other states need to follow suit and pass handheld bans to prevent cell phone usage overall.

Only are bottom state, Montana, has no texting ban in place.
Missouri, also graded with an “F,” has a partial ban.

Cell phone driving laws by state

While 48 states and the District of Columbia have texting bans on the books, only 26 states (and D.C.) have handheld bans, and no state has a full young driver cell phone ban in place.

Still, some states are safer than others for driving, so let’s look at how each U.S. state fared in our grading system.

State	Rank (letter grade)	Handheld ban	Young driver cell phone ban	Texting ban
Alabama	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Arizona	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
California	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Connecticut	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Delaware	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Washington, D.C.	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Hawaii	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Illinois	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Indiana	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Maine	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Maryland	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Massachusetts	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Michigan	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Minnesota	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
New Hampshire	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
New Jersey	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Oregon	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Rhode Island	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Tennessee	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Vermont	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Washington	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
West Virginia	A	Yes	Partial	Yes
Georgia	B	Yes	No	Yes
Idaho	B	Yes	No	Yes
Nevada	B	Yes	No	Yes
New York	B	Yes	No	Yes
Virginia	B	Yes	No	Yes
Arkansas	B	Partial	Partial	Yes
Louisiana	B	Partial	Partial	Yes
Texas	B	Partial	Partial	Yes
Wisconsin	B	Partial	Partial	Yes
Florida	C	Partial	No	Yes
Oklahoma	C	Partial	No	Yes
Colorado	C	No	Partial	Yes
Iowa	C	No	Partial	Yes
Kansas	C	No	Partial	Yes
Kentucky	C	No	Partial	Yes
Nebraska	C	No	Partial	Yes
New Mexico	C	No	Partial	Yes
North Carolina	C	No	Partial	Yes
North Dakota	C	No	Partial	Yes
Ohio	C	No	Partial	Yes
South Dakota	C	No	Partial	Yes
Utah	C	No	Partial	Yes
Alaska	D	No	No	Yes
Mississippi	D	No	No	Yes
Pennsylvania	D	No	No	Yes
South Carolina	D	No	No	Yes
Wyoming	D	No	No	Yes
Missouri	F	No	No	Partial
Montana	F	No	No	No

Breaking down distracted driving laws

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tracks cell phone use laws by state and examines handheld bans, young driver bans, and texting bans along with the enforcement of the laws.

Not every state is equal in how they police distracted driving. Montana is the worst state for laws on the books. It does not have a handheld ban, a young driver ban, or a texting ban.

Missouri is close behind, but it does have a “partial” texting ban, which ranks it just above Montana.
Montana and Missouri are the only two states with an “F” grade in our rankings.

Twenty-seven states have laws on the books banning all drivers from using a hand-held device while driving.

However, five states with a hand-held ban have no young driver cell phone ban in place.

Only one state—Montana—does not ban texting for all drivers. Missouri only bans texting for drivers 21 years old and younger. Every other state, plus D.C., bans texting for all drivers.

In 14 states, young drivers are not prohibited from using cell phones behind the wheel. Meanwhile, all the other states (36 in total), plus D.C., prohibit cell phone use for novice drivers, drivers younger than 18, and learner’s permit holders—otherwise known as a partial ban.

Illinois increases its age limit to 19, but only for drivers that hold a learner’s permit or intermediate license; Indiana bars cell phone use for all drivers under 21.
All other states that have young driver cell phone bans are based on whether the driver has a learner’s permit or how long the driver has had their license—aka, novice drivers.
Nine of the states without a young driver cell phone ban received a failing grade overall.

All of the states that have cracked down on texting have made it a primary offense. That means that police officers can pull over drivers who are texting and issue a ticket.

This excludes Alabama, Missouri, and Nebraska, all of which classify texting bans as a secondary violation, which means that police can issue a ticket only if the driver has been pulled over for another violation.

Distracted driving law enforcement needed

To protect drivers and passengers on the road, states need to strengthen their laws and ensure that drivers cannot be distracted by cell phones while driving. It may sound simple but, as our research found, no state has laws fully enforcing a handheld cell phone ban, a young driver cellphone ban, and a texting ban.

Until then, it’s important for drivers to commit to practicing focused driving and protecting all other people on the road. We’re in this together.

For some distracted driving safety tips, check out our distracted driving guide, which offers helpful tips and guidelines for staying safe on the road.

Methodology

The team at WhistleOut combed through cell phone use laws data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to see which states have the harshest and most lenient cell phone use and driving laws in place.

We looked at three categories of cell phone driving bans — texting bans, young drivers all cell phone bans, and hand-held bans. States scored more points if they fully enforced all three categories, partial points if they enforced some categories, and no points if they enforced no laws.

From there, we gave each state a letter grade ranging from A to F to determine how safe or dangerous each state is for drivers.

Alex Kerai

Consumer Trends Reporter

As WhistleOut's Consumer Trends Reporter, Alex keeps up on the latest breaking mobile tech news in the U.S. and Canada, from smartphone development to network shutdowns. His work can be seen on The Penny Hoarder, Business.org, Biz2Credit, and more.

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