Ohio's hands-free law for new drivers and their parents

Ohio has two phone laws, and which one applies to you depends on your age and your license. Both are short. Both are easy to break without meaning to, usually at a red light.

This note states each rule as the Ohio Revised Code reads today, with the exceptions and the penalties. It is not legal advice; it is what we tell every student before the first drive.

Under 18: no device in any manner

A driver under 18 who holds a temporary permit, and any driver with a probationary license, may not drive while using an electronic wireless communications device in any manner (Ohio Revised Code 4511.205). That includes hands-free. It includes a phone mounted on the dash with a thumb on the screen. The Ohio Driver Manual adds that it applies while sitting at a traffic light or in a traffic jam.

The law leaves three openings: an emergency call to police, fire, a hospital or similar; using the device while the car is stopped outside a lane of travel; and a navigation device used by voice or hands-free, without touching it while driving.

The penalty is a fine of one hundred fifty dollars and a sixty-day suspension of the license or permit. A second violation brings a fine of three hundred dollars and a one-year suspension.

18 and older: nothing in your hand

From 18, only Ohio Revised Code 4511.204 applies: no driving while using, holding or physically supporting a device with any part of your body. The law's current version took effect June 30, 2025.

The exceptions are about how you use it, not whether you use it:

• Hands-free or voice features, started or stopped with a single touch or swipe.
• Navigation, as long as you do not type and do not hold the device.
• A phone held to the ear for a call, as long as you do not type letters, numbers or symbols.
• Speakerphone, without holding the phone.
• A device built into the car's own system, as long as you do not type into it or hold it.
• Stopped at a traffic signal that is telling you to stop, or parked on the road because of an emergency or a closure.
• An emergency call to law enforcement, a hospital, a health care provider or the fire department.

An officer may stop you for this alone, but only after seeing the device in your hand or against your body. The officer must tell you that you may decline a search of the phone.

What it costs from 18

• First violation in two years: a fine of up to one hundred fifty dollars and points on the license. A first offender may take the distracted driving safety course instead of the fine and the points (not for a violation in a posted construction zone).
• Second in two years: up to two hundred fifty dollars.
• Third or more in two years: up to five hundred dollars, and the court may suspend the license for ninety days.
• In a posted construction zone the fine is doubled.

The manual puts the points at two for a first offense, three for a second and four for a third.

The red-light trap

The red light is where the two rules differ most. From 18, the law allows a device while stopped at a signal that is directing you to stop. Under 18, it does not: the manual says plainly that the rule applies while sitting at a traffic light.

Either way, the habit that keeps you out of trouble is the same one that keeps you safe: the phone goes somewhere you cannot reach before the car moves. A mount is for navigation you set up before you pull out, not for a hand on the screen at 45 mph.

What this means for a lesson

A student with a permit is under the rule for their age the moment the car is in their hands, instructor or not. In our teen course and our driving lessons the instructor's directions replace the map, and the student's phone stays put away from the first minute to the last.

If you are about to take the knowledge test, the permit guide lists what else the test asks, and our permit practice test has a question on exactly this rule.

Where this comes from

Every rule in this note was read on the State of Ohio's own pages on November 1, 2026. If a page changes, the page wins; check it before you rely on a date or a number.

• Ohio Revised Code 4511.204: electronic wireless communications devices (codes.ohio.gov)
• Ohio Revised Code 4511.205: use of devices by persons under 18 (codes.ohio.gov)
• Ohio Driver Manual, section 3: be alert (publicsafety.ohio.gov)