Texting-While-Driving Laws: How Does Your State Measure Up?

At any given daylight moment across the U.S., approximately 660,000 drivers are using cellphones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, according to the National Occupant Protection Use Survey (PDF).

Laws about texting while driving vary from state to state. Washington became the first state to pass a texting ban, in 2007. Forty-one states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands ban text messaging for all drivers. All but four have primary enforcement, which allows officers to give drivers a ticket without any other traffic offense taking place. Six additional states prohibit text messaging by novice drivers and three states restrict school bus drivers from texting. Read more...