What the law says, state by state
There is no single federal rule for phones at the wheel. Each state writes its own, so the picture is a patchwork, but the patchwork points one way, and it has moved fast. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, 33 states and the District of Columbia now ban hand-held phone use for all drivers. Six states joined that list in 2025, the biggest single-year expansion so far. Texting while driving is banned in every state except Montana. A hands-free voice call is lawful for adult drivers in every state. Rules for new and young drivers are stricter and vary by state, so check the state you are in.
| Where | What the law says | What that means for a work call |
|---|---|---|
| 33 states and the District of Columbia | Hand-held phone use is banned for all drivers | Bluetooth or the car's own system only; no phone in the hand, for any purpose |
| Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina | Hands-free laws took effect in 2025 | The same rule as above, newly enforced; expect a period of active policing |
| The other states | Texting while driving is banned; holding the phone for a call may still be lawful | Lawful is not the same as sensible; put it on Bluetooth anyway, and the distraction caveat below applies everywhere |
| Montana | The only state with no texting ban at all | Lawful is not the same as sensible; the distraction caveat applies everywhere |
| Every state | A hands-free voice call is lawful for adult drivers | A voice call over Bluetooth is the one way to work the drive that is lawful coast to coast |
Checked on October 8, 2026 against the GHSA's state-by-state summary. State laws change often, and many take effect on January 1; the GHSA keeps the current list.
In a hands-free state the rule is about holding the phone at all, not about what you are doing with it. If the phone is in your hand while you are driving, it is an offense, whatever is on the screen:
- scrolling through a playlist or a podcast list
- taking a photo or a video
- checking a notification or the time
- reading an email, or tapping a CRM app at a red light
- recording a voice memo with the phone held up to your mouth
The last two are the ones people who work from the car get caught by, because they feel like work rather than phone use. The law does not make that distinction. Penalties vary by state and rise for repeat offenses; the fine is the smallest part of it once a ticket reaches your insurer or your employer's fleet policy.
What remains lawful in every state
Three things are lawful for adult drivers everywhere, and together they describe the only way to work while the car is moving.
A hands-free voice call. Over the car's Bluetooth, through the car's own system, or on a headset where the state allows one. You may make a call, take a call and talk for as long as you like, provided you are not holding the phone and the call is not taking your attention from the road (the next section is about that proviso).
Voice commands. Pressing the button on the steering wheel and saying "call the office", or asking the car's assistant to read a message aloud, is lawful. The phone stays where it is and your hands stay where they are. Most hands-free states allow a single tap or swipe to start or end a call on a mounted phone; a few are stricter, so if in doubt, use the wheel button or your voice.
A phone in a mount. A phone fixed in a holder, for example for navigation, is lawful to use as long as you are not holding it. Set the route before you move. The safe reading of every state's rule is that the phone stays untouched while the car is moving: a mount is not a license to type.
Everything else waits until you are parked. The practical test is simple. If a task needs your hand on the phone or your eyes on its screen, it is not a task for the road.
The caveat: a hands-free call can still be a distracted one
Hands-free is lawful. It is not a free pass. A hands-free law says what you may hold; it does not say a call cannot distract you, and every state can still cite a driver for careless or reckless driving when a call is clearly taking their attention from the road. A long, tense conversation through a busy interchange, or a call during which you miss a lane change, is enough.
Road-safety researchers have made the point for years that the distraction in a phone call is mostly the conversation, not the handset. Treat that as the practical limit. A short, structured exchange in steady traffic is one thing. A negotiation in the rain on the interstate is another, and the second one belongs in a parking lot.
Two habits keep you on the right side of the line. Keep calls short and predictable: say what you need, hear the answer, end the call. And decide in advance which situations end a call: merging, construction zones, heavy rain, downtown streets you do not know. When one arrives, say "I'll call you back" and mean it.
UK readers
In the UK: the hand-held rule since March 2022
If you drive for work in the United Kingdom, the rule is simpler than the US patchwork and at least as strict, and the practical advice is the same.
What changed on 25 March 2022
The old rule was about calling and texting. The rule since 25 March 2022 is about holding the phone at all. If the phone is in your hand while you are driving, it is an offense, whatever you are doing with it. The Department for Transport's THINK! campaign spelled out what "any use" means, and it is wider than most people assume: scrolling through a playlist, taking a photo or a video, playing a game, checking a notification or the time, reading an email or tapping a CRM app at the lights, recording a voice memo with the phone held up to your mouth. The penalty is six points on your license and a fine of up to £1,000, and a court can disqualify you. "Driving" includes sitting in a queue or waiting at a red light with the engine running, so the lights are not a window for a quick reply.
What the 2022 rule allows
The same three things as in the United States remain lawful: a hands-free voice call over the car's Bluetooth, through the car's own system, or on a headset; voice commands from the steering wheel or to the car's assistant; and a phone in a cradle that you do not touch while the car is moving. Everything else waits until you are parked.
The caveat: driving without due care
Hands-free is lawful in the UK too, and it is not a free pass there either. The police can still charge you with driving without due care and attention if a hands-free call is clearly taking your attention from the road, and the offense does not need a collision to be made out. Road-safety bodies, RoSPA among them, have made the point for years that the distraction in a phone call is mostly the conversation, not the handset. A short exchange in steady traffic is one thing. A negotiation in the rain on the M25 is another, and the second one belongs in a lay-by.
Checked on October 8, 2026 against THINK! guidance and the RoSPA factsheet.
Practical rules for working calls while driving
These are the rules that fall out of the law and the caveat, on either side of the Atlantic. They apply whether the person at the other end is a colleague, a customer or an assistant you phone.
- Pair before you move. Bluetooth connected, phone in the mount, screen dark, before you leave the parking lot. If it is not paired by the time you pull out, it stays unpaired until you stop.
- Dial by voice or from the steering wheel. Recent calls, a voice command, or a single number you call every day. Never a number you have to read off a screen.
- Say it, do not press it. Anything that ends with "tap to confirm" is a hand-held action. If a task cannot be finished by speaking, it is a task for later.
- One thing per call. Say what you need in one breath, hear the answer, end the call. A call with an agenda of six items is a meeting, and meetings happen when you are parked.
- Let names and numbers be read back. Phone audio is narrow, and a misheard name or figure costs more than the five seconds it takes to hear it again. If the other person does not read it back, ask them to.
- Nothing that needs your eyes. No reading, no checking a screen, no "let me just look". If you need to see something, you need to stop.
- Know your stop conditions. Merging, construction zones, heavy rain, downtown streets you do not know. When one arrives, the call ends and you call back from a parking lot.
- Decide once what never happens in the car. Contracts, anything with money moving, anything you would want to re-read before sending. Put those on the list in advance so you are not deciding at 70 mph.
Where an assistant you phone fits
Once the law has drawn its line, the question changes. It is no longer "how do I use my phone in the car" but "how much of my work can be done as a voice call". More than you might think, if the thing you are calling can act on what you say.
That is what an assistant you can phone is for: a normal number you call from the car's Bluetooth, which has access to your inbox, your calendar and your CRM, and does the work in the conversation. What came in while you were in that meeting. Draft the reply. Log the visit. Move the three o'clock.
It is still a phone call, so everything above still applies. Keep it short, and end it at the interchange. The difference is that when the call ends, the email is sent and the note is in the CRM, rather than waiting in a voice memo for a desk you will not reach today.
For what that looks like with an inbox specifically, read How to deal with email while driving, without touching the phone. For the category as a whole, see an assistant you can phone.
Sources
- Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA): distracted-driving laws by state, as published.
- Hands-free driving laws by state, 2026 summary (textingwithdriving.com), and the published summary of state cell-phone restrictions.
- THINK!, Department for Transport (UK): "Mobiles 2022" campaign guidance on the hand-held phone rule from 25 March 2022.
- RoSPA (UK): Mobile phones and driving factsheet, revised December 2023.
- Auto Express and Parkers (UK): explainers on the extension of the offense to any hand-held use.
- HCAMag and MediaPost: surveys in which 10 to 11% of professionals admitted reading or writing email while driving.
Checked on October 8, 2026. If something here is out of date, send us a message and we will correct it.