Connecticut Restricts Cell Phone Use While Driving

Connecticut has joined New York, New Jersey, and the District of Columbia in banning the use of handheld cell phones while driving.

Connecticut's law became effective on October 1. The law, outlined below, prohibits drivers from using a handheld mobile telephone while operating a motor vehicle, though hands-free devices are permitted. Under the law, drivers with a learner's permit are prohibited from using any mobile telephone, including phones with hands-free accessories, while driving.

This is important news for green industry contractors. Lawn and landscape contractors, as well as snow and ice removal contractors whose season will start soon, have come to rely on cell phones to keep in touch with clients, crew members and the office.

Connecticut police note that they will strictly enforce the new law, especially in instances where cell phone use contributes to a traffic accident. Just hours after Connecticut’s new law went into effect, Wallingford, Conn., police fined the state’s first violator when the 23-year-old driver crashed into a utility pole. While police did not catch him in the act of using his cell phone while driving, upon revealing that detail, police charged the driver with a $190 fine for failure to drive right and improper use of a cell phone.

“We’ve seen this every once in a while, but haven’t been able to enforce it – someone getting into an accident while talking on a cell phone,” said Lieutenant Miklowski of the police department in an interview with Connecticut’s WFSB TV. “We’re going to enforce this law just as we do any other law. When we see someone operating a cell phone, and it’s a contributing factor to an accident, we’re going to take enforcement.”