Texting while Driving

How Much Getting Caught Will Cost You in Various States

While fatal car crashes are on the decline, fatalities due to accidents involving cell phones - including talking on the phone and texting while driving - are on the rise. In fact, texting while driving is now the leading cause of death for crashes involving teenage drivers.
Forty seven out of 50 states in the United States have now banned texting and driving, with a wide range of fines. Mother Jones magazine has put together a map of how much it will cost you if you got caught, depending on the state. The fines range from $20 for first time offender in California (the fines go up for subsequent offenses) to a whopping $10,000 (and up to a year in prison) in Alaska.
Some states (Montana, Arizona and South Dakota), however, do not have any legislation banning texting and driving, whereas others impose the ban only on new drivers (like Texas, for example). In Florida and Ohio, drivers can be fined for texting but cannot be pulled over unless they break other laws first (like speeding, for example).