North Carolina Phone & Distracted Driving Laws
Whether handheld phone use and texting are banned for all drivers, additional restrictions on minors, and first-offense fines.
- Handheld phone: banned for all drivers?
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Adult drivers may hold a phone to make a voice call; only manually texting/emailing is banned. A driver under 18 (any graduated-license level) is banned from any cell phone or associated technology use while driving, with narrow emergency-call exceptions. A widely-shared claim that a 'Hands Free NC Act' banning all handheld phone use took effect December 1, 2025 is false; that bill has not passed the General Assembly.
Source: N.C.G.S. 20-137.4A; NC Driver Handbook 2026, p. 12-13, 42; WRAL fact-check, read Sept. 27, 2026 Verified Sep 2026
- Phone Texting Law
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Texting while driving is illegal in North Carolina for every driver. The law reaches email as well as text messages, and it applies on any public street, highway, or public vehicular area. A first offense is a $100 fine plus court costs, with no license points.
Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook (2026), Chapter 4 (Cell Phones), p. 41: "It is unlawful to use a cell phone for email or text messages while operating a vehicle on a public street or highway or public vehicular area." Verified Oct 2026
- Phone Minor Total Ban
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Drivers under 18 may not use a cell phone at all in North Carolina while the vehicle is in motion, including any additional technology associated with a phone, hands-free or not. There are two exceptions: an emergency call to 911, an emergency response operator, a hospital, physician's office, or health clinic, an ambulance service, a fire department, or a law enforcement agency; and any call to the driver's own parent, legal guardian, or spouse, which does not have to be an emergency (N.C.G.S. 20-137.3(d)). A cell phone conviction also resets the six-month clean-record window a teenager needs to move up a graduated-licensing level.
- Phone First Offense Fine
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Texting or emailing while driving is an infraction with a $100 fine plus court costs, and no license points or insurance points. North Carolina has no general handheld ban for adult drivers: a proposed Hands Free NC Act (Senate Bill 526, 2025) never became law.
Source: N.C.G.S. 20-137.4A; ncleg.gov bill history for S.B. 526 (2025), read Sept. 27, 2026 Verified Sep 2026
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