Quick answer: Maryland has two cell phone statutes and they draw different lines. Transp. § 21-1124.2 bars hands on a handheld phone only while the vehicle is in motion, and still lets you start or end a call. Transp. § 21-1124.1 bars writing, sending, or reading a text anywhere in the travel portion of the roadway — a red light counts. Both are primary offenses. Handheld: $83, 0 points. Texting: $70, 1 point. Under 18 the ban is total and reaches hands-free.
I’m David Waranch, and I’ve handled thousands of Maryland traffic cases. These charges turn on the exact words of the statute far more often than on what the officer saw.
Two Statutes, Two Different Tests
Most summaries collapse these into one rule. A charge can fail under one and survive the other.
| § 21-1124.2 — handheld phone | § 21-1124.1 — text messaging | |
|---|---|---|
| What is prohibited | Using your hands to use a handheld telephone | Writing, sending, or reading a text or electronic message |
| When it applies | Only when the vehicle is in motion | Whenever you are operating in the travel portion of the roadway — motion irrelevant |
| Built-in allowance | Hands may initiate or terminate a call, or turn the phone on or off | None. There is no permitted hand use |
| Exceptions | Emergency use, on-duty police and emergency personnel, texting (covered by § 21-1124.1), push-to-talk in a commercial vehicle | GPS, and contacting a 9-1-1 system. That is the entire list |
| Preset fine | $83 / $140 / $160 by offense number | $70 |
| Points | 0 unless it contributes to an accident (then 3) | 1, or 3 if it contributes to an accident |
The Handheld Ban Applies Only While the Vehicle Is in Motion
“A driver of a motor vehicle that is in motion may not use the driver’s hands to use a handheld telephone other than to initiate or terminate a wireless telephone call or to turn on or turn off the handheld telephone.” — § 21-1124.2(d)(2)
Three things follow. The offense is hand use, not conversation — speakerphone and Bluetooth are not prohibited for an adult driver. The hands-free allowance is narrow: hands may start a call, end it, or power the phone on or off, and nothing else. Holding it to your ear mid-call, scrolling contacts, or tapping an app all fall outside it. And subsection (d) does not reach a stopped car. Officers write these citations at red lights anyway; the State still has to prove motion, and the officer’s own account often proves the opposite.
The Texting Ban Turns on Where You Are, Not Whether You Are Moving
“Subject to subsection (c) of this section, an individual may not use a text messaging device to write, send, or read a text message or an electronic message while operating a motor vehicle in the travel portion of the roadway.” — § 21-1124.1(b)
A location test replaces the motion test. In a travel lane you are covered, stopped or not — which is why the common advice that you can text at a red light is wrong here. The safe harbor is leaving the travel portion: a shoulder, a parking lot, a driveway.
The banned content is broad. A text messaging device reaches short message service, wireless telephone service, or any “electronic communication network,” and “electronic message” sits beside “text message” — email, messaging apps, social posts. Reading is banned on equal terms with sending, so glancing at a notification that already arrived is as much an offense as typing a reply. Other distractions stay separate charges: headphones over both ears is its own offense under § 21-1120.
Who Faces a Total Ban
Drivers 18 and older are often told they face no special restriction. Three groups do.
| Driver | Section | Scope of the ban | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Any driver under 18 | § 21-1124(c) | No wireless communication device at all while operating — the definition covers handheld and hands-free. Only exceptions: contacting 9-1-1, and use as a text messaging device (which § 21-1124.1 then governs) | $70 preset, 1 point; MVA may suspend the license up to 90 days |
| Learner’s permit or provisional license holder, 18 or older | § 21-1124.2(c)(2) | No handheld telephone while operating. No in-motion requirement, so a red light is no defense | $83 / $140 / $160 by offense number, 0 points |
| Driver of a Class H (school) vehicle | § 21-1124.2(c)(1) | No handheld telephone when the vehicle is carrying passengers and in motion | $83 / $140 / $160, 0 points |
Two points get reported backwards. The under-18 rule is not a handheld ban: § 21-1124 defines a wireless communication device as “a handheld or hands-free device,” so a Bluetooth call that is legal for an adult is a violation for a 17-year-old. And the real exposure is not the fine — §§ 21-1124(d) and 21-1124.1(d) let the MVA suspend for up to 90 days, leaving only a work-and-school restricted license. That is why a young-driver citation is worth fighting, and why the driver should demand the Title 12 hearing.
The Emergency Exemption Is Not the Same in Both Statutes
“It was an emergency” nearly answers a handheld charge. It barely touches a texting one.
| Exemption | § 21-1124.2 handheld | § 21-1124.1 texting |
|---|---|---|
| Calling or texting 9-1-1 | Yes — § 21-1124.2(b)(1)(i) | Yes — § 21-1124.1(c)(2). The only communication exception |
| Hospital, ambulance service, fire department, law enforcement agency, first aid squad | Yes — named in § 21-1124.2(b)(1)(ii)–(vi) | No |
| Any other genuine emergency use | Yes — the list is prefaced by “including,” so it is illustrative, not closed | No |
| Global positioning system | No GPS exception. A phone used for navigation is still “a handheld device used to access wireless telephone service,” so hand use in motion remains prohibited | Yes — § 21-1124.1(c)(1) |
| On-duty law enforcement and emergency personnel | Yes — § 21-1124.2(b)(2) | No |
| Push-to-talk in a commercial motor vehicle (49 C.F.R. § 390.5) | Yes — § 21-1124.2(b)(4) | No |
Because “including” prefaces the handheld list, the test there is whether the use was an emergency, not who you dialed. The texting statute has no such word — text a hospital or a family member in a real emergency and you are outside the exception. The push-to-talk carve-out matters to anyone holding a commercial license.
Primary Offense, Fines, Points, and Escalation
Both are primary offenses — an officer can stop you for handheld use alone. Neither section carries a secondary-enforcement clause, and the District Court schedule labels secondary offenses expressly where they exist: it marks § 21-1123(a)(2) “(Secondary Action)” and marks nothing in the § 21-1124 series. The contrary claim went out of date in 2013 and still circulates.
| Charge | Preset fine | Points | Contributing to an accident | Statutory maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| § 21-1124.2(d)(2) handheld — 1st offense | $83 | 0 | $83 · 3 points | $75 |
| § 21-1124.2 handheld — 2nd offense | $140 | 0 | $140 · 3 points | $125 |
| § 21-1124.2 handheld — 3rd or subsequent | $160 | 0 | $160 · 3 points | $175 |
| § 21-1124.1(b) texting | $70 | 1 | $110 · 3 points | $500 (§ 27-101) |
| § 21-1124(c) driver under 18 | $70 | 1 | $110 · 3 points | $500, plus 90-day MVA suspension |
| § 21-1124.3 causing death or serious bodily injury | Must appear | 12 | — | 1 year and/or $5,000 |
The § 21-1124.2(e) escalation is fine-only; presets sit above the statutory caps at the low end because they bundle court costs and a surcharge. Points come from elsewhere: § 21-1124.2(e)(2) says they “may not be assessed” for a handheld violation “unless the offense contributes to an accident,” and when one does, § 16-402(a)(14) supplies 3 points.
One provision is badly underused: under § 21-1124.2(f) the court may waive the penalty on a first offense if you appear with proof you have acquired a hands-free accessory, attachment, add-on, or built-in feature. Bring the receipt — but you cannot ask once you have paid. All of these are payable citations except § 21-1124.3, and § 26-201 gives you 30 days to respond.
“Zero points, so paying it is harmless.” This is the costliest mistake on a handheld ticket. Paying a preset Maryland fine is a guilty plea and produces a conviction on your driving record. That conviction is what makes the next citation a “second offense” at $140 and the one after that a third at $160, it is visible to insurers and employers even at 0 points, and it closes the door on probation before judgment under Crim. Proc. § 6-220, which is not a conviction at all. Requesting a waiver hearing or a trial keeps every one of those outcomes open — including the § 21-1124.2(f) fine waiver. It is a real trade-off rather than a free option: at either hearing the judge can raise your fine instead of lowering it, up to a $500 maximum. On an $83 ticket that is a risk worth understanding before you decide.
When a Phone Violation Stops Being a Traffic Ticket
Transp. § 21-1124.3, Jake’s Law, makes it an offense to violate § 21-1124.1 or § 21-1124.2 in a way “that causes an accident that directly results in the death or … serious bodily injury of another person.” It carries up to 1 year in jail, a $5,000 fine, or both, plus 12 points, and it is must-appear. The sentence runs separate from and concurrent with any other for the same conduct, so it stacks with negligent or reckless driving from the crash.
Three elements have to hold: a violation of one of the two phone statutes, causation, and a death or serious bodily injury as defined in § 20-102(c). If the predicate violation fails, § 21-1124.3 fails with it — which is why the in-motion and travel-portion tests matter most in the most serious cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends which statute. The handheld ban in Transportation section 21-1124.2(d)(2) applies only to a driver of a motor vehicle that is in motion, so a car stopped at a red light is outside that subsection. The texting ban in section 21-1124.1 is different: it applies whenever you are operating in the travel portion of the roadway, with no motion requirement, so reading or sending a text at a red light is still prohibited. Learner’s permit and provisional license holders 18 and older, and all drivers under 18, face bans with no in-motion element either.
The District Court preset fine for handheld use is $83 for a first offense, $140 for a second and $160 for a third, and it carries zero points unless the violation contributed to an accident, in which case 3 points are assessed. A texting citation is $70 and carries 1 point, or $110 and 3 points if it contributed to an accident. The statutory fine caps in section 21-1124.2(e) are $75, $125 and $175. Paying any of these preset amounts is a guilty plea and creates a conviction.
Yes. Both the handheld statute and the texting statute are primary offenses, so an officer needs no other violation to justify the stop. Maryland’s handheld ban was a secondary offense before 2013, and that outdated description still appears on many websites. The District Court preset fine schedule labels secondary offenses expressly, and nothing in the section 21-1124 series carries that label.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. §§ 16-402, 20-102, 21-1120, 21-1124, 21-1124.1, 21-1124.2, 21-1124.3, 26-201, 27-101; Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 6-220; 49 C.F.R. § 390.5; District Court of Maryland Schedule of Pre-Set Fines DC-CR-090 (Rev. 10/2025). This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.