Distracted driving laws exist in nearly every state, and they have grown sharply stricter over the last decade. Forty-nine states ban texting behind the wheel, 33 prohibit drivers from holding a phone at all, and federal rules add a separate layer for commercial drivers. Break one of these laws and you face more than a ticket: fines run into the hundreds, insurance premiums jump by roughly 28% on average after a texting conviction, and a crash that injures someone can turn a traffic offense into a criminal charge and a civil lawsuit you are presumed to lose.1National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Distracted Driving Dangers and Statistics
What Counts as Distracted Driving
Federal safety regulators group driver distraction into three types: visual (eyes off the road), manual (hands off the wheel), and cognitive (mind off the task). Texting is treated as the most dangerous behavior because it involves all three at once.2National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Put the Phone Away or Pay
Distraction is not limited to phones. Eating, adjusting the GPS, applying makeup, and turning to talk to passengers can all draw a citation. Most states have general traffic laws that require drivers to keep proper control of their vehicle, and officers can ticket you under those broad statutes for any distracting behavior, even conduct not addressed by a phone-specific law. Legislatures have added targeted electronic-device statutes on top of those general rules because phones uniquely pull attention in every direction at once.
Texting Bans and Handheld Phone Laws
Texting while driving is illegal for all drivers in 49 states, D.C., and most U.S. territories. All but two of those jurisdictions enforce the ban as a primary offense, meaning police can pull you over and ticket you for texting alone with no other traffic violation involved.3Bureau of Transportation Statistics. State Laws on Distracted Driving – Ban on Hand-Held Devices and Texting While Driving The statutory definition of texting is broad. It generally covers writing, reading, or sending any electronic message, not just SMS.
A second wave of laws goes further and forbids drivers from holding any wireless device at all while the vehicle is moving. As of 2025, 33 states, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have adopted handheld bans for all drivers.4Governors Highway Safety Association. Distracted Driving Hands-free technology such as Bluetooth, speakerphone, and voice commands remains legal in these states. Starting a call or entering a destination usually has to happen with a single touch or a voice command; extended manual use of the screen is not allowed.
Emergency Exceptions
Nearly every distracted driving statute carves out room for genuine emergencies. You can generally use a handheld phone to call 911 or report a crime, fire, or medical emergency in progress, and emergency personnel operating authorized vehicles are exempt. Checking directions or reading a work email does not qualify anywhere.
Stricter Rules for Young Drivers
Many states go beyond the general bans and prohibit teenage or novice drivers from using any phone behind the wheel, hands-free included. These restrictions typically apply to drivers under 18 or those holding a learner’s permit or provisional license. Fines look similar to adult penalties, but a violation can also delay full licensure in states with graduated licensing programs.
Federal Rules for Commercial Drivers
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration imposes its own restrictions on commercial motor vehicle operators. CMV drivers cannot hold a phone to make a call, cannot text, and cannot manually enter data on a handheld device. Even reaching for a phone in a way that requires the driver to leave the normal seated position is a violation.5Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Distracted Driving Hands-free calls are allowed only if the phone is mounted within reach of a buckled driver and can be answered or ended with a single button.
The financial exposure is significant. A CMV driver can be fined up to $2,750 per violation. An employer that allows or requires a driver to use a handheld device behind the wheel faces fines up to $11,000.6Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Mobile Phone Restrictions Fact Sheet Two violations within three years result in a 60-day disqualification from operating any commercial vehicle, and a third violation in that window extends the disqualification to 120 days.7eCFR. 49 CFR 383.51 Disqualification of Drivers For anyone whose income depends on a CDL, a single ticket can be career-altering.
Fines, Points, and License Consequences
First-offense fines for distracted driving vary enormously. Some states start as low as $20, others as high as $500, with most first-offense penalties landing between $50 and $300. Repeat offenses almost always cost more, and several states double or triple the fine on a second or third ticket. Enhanced penalties often apply in school zones and highway work zones.
The sticker price is not the whole cost. Courts add surcharges, processing fees, and court costs, and the final amount owed on a $100 ticket routinely exceeds $200.
Many states also add points to your driving record after a distracted driving conviction. Accumulate too many points inside the relevant window and your license is suspended. Reinstatement fees range from around $15 to $500 depending on the state. Some states have moved away from assessing points for phone tickets but still ratchet up the fines for repeat offenders.
Insurance Costs After a Ticket
This is where the pain compounds. A single texting-while-driving conviction raises auto insurance premiums by an average of about 28%, and some drivers see hikes as high as 50%. The surcharge typically stays on your record for three to five years, which means a $150 ticket can quietly cost thousands over time. Insurers treat phone-related violations as strong predictors of future claims, so the premium impact often exceeds what a basic speeding ticket would bring.
Criminal Charges When Someone Is Hurt
When distracted driving causes a crash with serious injury or death, prosecutors can move from a traffic citation to a criminal charge. Depending on the harm and the jurisdiction, that can range from a misdemeanor to a felony. Vehicular manslaughter or reckless driving convictions involving phone use can carry substantial jail time, license revocation, and fines far above anything assessed for a routine violation. Several states have enacted statutes that treat fatal distracted driving crashes as standalone criminal offenses rather than folding them into general reckless driving laws.
Civil Liability If You Cause a Crash
Violating a cell phone or texting statute does more than earn a ticket. In many states, breaking a safety statute establishes negligence per se, meaning the court treats the violation itself as proof that you failed to drive with reasonable care. The injured person does not have to independently prove carelessness because the statute violation does that work.
States differ on how strictly this applies. Some treat a statutory violation as automatic proof of negligence, some treat it as a rebuttable presumption you can try to overcome, and others treat it as one piece of evidence for the jury. Where negligence per se applies strictly, a driver who was holding a phone has almost no room to argue they were driving safely anyway. Even without a statute on the books, texting or scrolling behind the wheel is powerful evidence of ordinary negligence on its own.
Fault is not always all-or-nothing. If the injured person also contributed to the crash, most states reduce their recovery in proportion to their share of the blame. In the majority of states, once the injured person’s share crosses 50% or 51%, they recover nothing. About a third of states use pure comparative fault with no cutoff. A handful still follow contributory negligence, under which even 1% fault on the injured party’s side bars recovery entirely.
In extreme cases, juries can award punitive damages on top of compensation for actual losses. These require a higher showing than ordinary negligence, generally that the driver acted with conscious disregard for the safety of others. Texting at highway speeds, livestreaming behind the wheel, or scrolling social media in heavy traffic have been found sufficient. A momentary glance at a notification usually has not. The standard of proof is clear and convincing evidence, which is harder to meet than the preponderance standard that applies to ordinary negligence.
When an Employer Is on the Hook
If an employee causes a distracted driving crash while on the job, the employer can be held liable under respondeat superior, which makes employers responsible for negligent acts of employees performed within the scope of their work. A delivery driver texting on a delivery run is squarely within scope. An employee who has detoured across town for personal errands has likely stepped outside it, and the employer’s exposure weakens.
Employers can also face liability under negligent entrustment. That theory applies when an employer knew or should have known that a driver posed a risk and gave them the keys anyway. Failing to check a driving record before assigning a company vehicle, or ignoring an employee’s history of phone-related violations, can support such a claim. Courts scrutinize employers who hand out company phones without any policy or technology to prevent use behind the wheel. A written no-phone policy that is never enforced carries little weight; juries look for actual steps taken to prevent the foreseeable risk.
The line between company and personal phones blurs once someone is driving for work. An employer that requires employees to be reachable while driving accepts responsibility for the distraction that requirement creates, whoever owns the device. On the regulatory side, employers who allow or require handheld device use in commercial vehicles face FMCSA fines up to $11,000 per violation.8Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. No Texting Rule Fact Sheet