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Arizona bill would ban holding a cell phone while driving

Posted at 1:49 PM, Jan 24, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-24 16:12:56-05

PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona lawmakers are considering making it illegal for drivers to hold a cellphone.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers on Thursday called for approval of a bill requiring the use of hands-free devices while behind the wheel of a car.

Lawmakers voted in 2017 to ban cellphone use by teenagers with a learner's permit or during the first six months after they get a regular license. And school bus drivers are not allowed the text. But other efforts to restrict cellphone use more broadly have repeatedly failed.

Forty-seven states ban texting and 16 prohibit holding a phone while behind the wheel.

Phoenix Republican Sen. Kate Brophy-McGee says a uniform statewide law would prevent confusion about various cell-phone laws in 22 Arizona cities and counties that have them.