New Jersey Drivers cannot use a hand-held phone while driving.  If there is a need to use a phone, drivers must use hands-free devices. Text messaging and use of video games are also prohibited while driving. Penalty: $100 (+ court costs/penalties) The same rules and fines apply to the New Jersey text-messaging ban as they do to the cell-phone law. New York Drivers cannot use a hand-held phone while driving.  If there is a need to use a phone, drivers must use a hands-free device. Penalty: $100 plus an infraction on your driving record. Pending legislation: Anyone who causes an injury or death while distracted by a cell phone would be treated the same as drunken drivers. Two points against drivers convicted of being in violation of cell phone laws. Connecticut Connecticut does not permit anyone to use a cell phone while driving.  If there is a need to use a phone, drivers must use a hands-free device.  Minors are not even permitted to talk & drive using a hands-free device. Penalty: 18 or older; $100. If you are 16 or 17 the first offense is a 30-day license suspension along with a $125 License Restoration fee. The second offense is a 6-month license suspension, or until the teen turns 18, plus the fee. Washington D.C. DC prohibits the use of a hand-held cell phone while driving. The law states that motorists can still dial a cell-phone call manually, but must use a hands-free device to talk on their cell phone while driving. Penalty: $100 for every violation. If drivers from other jurisdictions are ticketed for a cell phone driving infraction, those drivers could lose their drivers license if they fail to pay their Washington D.C. ticket. Delaware Any driver with a learner’s permit is prohibited from using a cell phone while driving. Penalty: First offense is one-month suspension of their driver’s license. For every violation after that, they will have a three-month suspension. Maryland Any driver under the age of 18 is prohibited from using a cell phone. This also applies to anyone with a learner’s permit or intermediate license. Pending legislation: A strong hands-free bill is anticipated for the 2009 session.   Currently the hands-free law is punishable to drivers over the age of 18 only as a secondary offense.  Pennsylvania Pending legislation: There are several hands-free bills in the legislature as of mid-2008.  More discussion is expected, possibly leading to a law in late 2008 or early 2009. California California does not permit anyone to use a cell phone to talk while driving. Minors are not allowed to text message either. There is new legislation in process that will prohibit any driver from text messaging while driving (sent to the governor on August 21, 2008). Penalty: First offense is $20 (+ court costs/penalties = $79). For the second and every offense thereafter the fine is $50 (+ court costs/penalties = $190). A cell phone ticket will show on your driving record in California. Rhode Island Drivers under the age of 18 and school bus drivers are prohibited from using a cell phone while driving. Penalty: $50 for the first and second offense. $100 for the third offense, also a suspended license until the age of 18. West Virginia Drivers with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses are prohibited from using cell phones while driving. Virginia Virginia has a new law that prohibits holders of a learner’s permit and drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. Penalty: The cell phone law is a secondary offense. Kentucky Prohibits the use of cell phones by drivers under the age of 18 and school bus drivers. Penalty: School Bus Drivers - $50 for the first offense and $100 for every offense after that, plus 6 months with a suspended license. Under 18 – Additional 6 months added to learner’s permit. Massachusetts The Mass. law states that no person shall operate a moving school bus while using a mobile phone except in the case of an emergency. Maine Drivers under the age of 18, a driver with a learner’s permit or with an intermediate license are prohibited from using a cell phone while driving. Tennessee Drivers with a learner’s permit or intermediate license are prohibited from talking on a cell phone while driving. School bus drivers are also not permitted. Penalty: Learner’s Permit Drivers - $100 fine and may receive delayed eligibility for their next license type.  School bus drivers - $50 fine North Carolina Prohibits drivers under the age of 18 from using a mobile phone or any technology associated with a mobile telephone while the vehicle is in motion.  Law also includes school bus drivers. Penalty: $25 fine if under the age of 18. $100 Minimum for a school bus river. Illinois Drivers under the age of 19 are prohibited from using a wireless phone while driving, with or without a hands-free device. Louisiana Law simply states that no driver is allowed to text message. Novice drivers and school bus drivers are not permitted to use a cell phone while driving. Colorado Colorado prohibits drivers under 18 from using a cell phone to talk or text while driving. Utah Utah's Senate Bill 17 (SB17) specifically defines "Careless driving" as being "distracted" by "using a wireless telephone or other electronic device... It is legal to use a cell-phone while you are driving only if the driver is using a device with hands-free [capabilities]." Washington The Washington law prohibits drivers from holding their phones while driving. Drivers who need to talk must use a hands-free device.   Penalty: $124, but drivers must have committed another infraction to get that ticket (it is a secondary offense)