Distracted Driving In Missouri: A Look Into Missouri Cell Phone Laws

Distracted driving is a major issue in every state. Because of that, we have seen 48 out of the 50 states in this country put a ban on text messaging for all drivers in place. As it turns out, one of the two states that doesn't have a full ban on using your cell phone while driving is Missouri. Check out the Missouri distracted driving laws below!

Missouri Cell Phone Laws

Whether you are learning to drive in Missouri or a seasoned driver, it's always a good idea to have a refresher course on what the current laws are. When it comes to Missouri, the Missouri Department of Revenue has one of the least stringent laws in the country.

For the Missouri distracted driving laws, they do not prohibit any motorist behind the wheel from using their cell phone for making or receiving phone calls. As far as texting while driving goes, Missouri does prohibit novice drivers, motorists who are 21 years of age or younger, bus drivers and motorists with a commercial driver's license (CDL) from sending, reading or composing text messages while operating a vehicle.

To give a brief summery, for Missouri:

• Talking on the phone while driving - Allowed for all drivers in Missouri.
• Texting while driving - Allowed for regular drivers who are over 21 years of age.
• Texting while driving - Banned for any drivers under 21 years of age, bus drivers and CDL drivers.

Primary Enforcement of Distracted Driving Laws

How police can enforce these distracted driving laws depends on your state laws. There are two ways these laws can be enforced:

1. Primary enforcement - This means the police can pull you over if they see you violating state distracted driving laws.
2. Secondary enforcement - This means the police can cite you for violating distracted driving laws only if you break another law while doing so.

In Missouri, they use primary enforcement, which means a police officer can pull you over if they see you texting on a handheld device while driving. Of course, this is only applicable to drivers under 21 years of age, bus drivers and CDL drivers. They do not need another reason to pull you over, as you were breaking the law by texting while behind the wheel.

Distracted Driving Law Fines

If you violate the distracted driving law in Missouri, the fines for a distracted driving citation for novice drivers are a $200 fine and two points on their driver's license.

The mission of Coastline Academy is to help put an end to car crashes. With more laws and emphasis put on distracted driving, we can all take steps to seeing that happen. We definitely would love to see stricter laws and regulations put in place in Missouri when it comes to distracted driving. As always, if you have any questions that Coastline can help you with, please reach out to our friendly support staff.