Texting and Driving Laws You Might Not Know About

It is no secret that distracted driving–and in particular, phone use while driving–has become an increasingly serious problem on roads throughout the world, and especially the United States. Nine Americans are killed every single day from accidents that involve distracted driving, and there is a 1 in 4 chance that a motor vehicle accident will involve phone use behind the wheel.

At first, since it was such a new and unfamiliar monster, there were very few texting and driving laws in place across the country. That is, until very recently. Unfortunately, we still have a long way to go when it comes to this kind of legislation. There are currently 46 states that prevent texting while driving, but only 14 with laws against handheld cellphone use behind the wheel.

Even though texting and browsing are the most dangerous forms of cell use while driving, talking on the phone is also dangerous, as it requires you to take a hand off of the wheel and your mind off of the task of driving.

While the texting and driving laws that are in place currently are a good start, we should not rest until every state has adequate legislation in place to protect everyone. In the meantime, we will have to do what we can to remind ourselves and others not to text and drive.

current texting and driving laws in the united states

 




 
1 Arkansas also bans the use of hand-held cell phones while driving in a school zone or in a highway construction zone. This law is secondarily enforced.
2 Texas has banned the use of hand-held phones and texting in school zones.

Data from ghsa.gov.