<P> The use of mobiles while driving is prohibited and offenders can also expect to have demerit points added to their record . In one instance a UAE minister was himself given a fine for using his mobile phone while driving . </P> <P> Any use of a hand - held mobile phone or similar device while driving, or supervising a learner driver, is illegal . This includes when stopped at traffic lights . The only exceptions are emergency calls to 999 or 112 . </P> <P> Texting while driving is generally outlawed for drivers in all states and the District of Columbia except Arizona, Montana, Missouri, and Texas . The state of Texas prohibits school bus drivers from texting while transporting a child under the age of 17 . The following states have laws that restrict those who are underage and / or those with learner's permits from texting while driving: Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas . Missouri also bans all commercial drivers from texting and cell phone use . Law that were enacted in Kentucky in 2010, Indiana in 2011 and Ohio in 2012 banned texting for all drivers, as well as those who are under 18 from using cell phones while driving . The latter feature is unusual in that a driver with an unrestricted licenses is subject to the ban; most states that have banned cell phone usage by young drivers apply their laws only to those holders of either a restricted or graduated licenses . </P> <P> On June 6, 2017, after a bill authored by Texas State Representative Tom Craddick was sent to the Texas Senate, Governor Greg Abbott signed the Texas TWD bill into state law, effective 9.1. 17 - the TWD law exempts the use of a mobile phone for use as a GPS navigator or as part of the vehicle's car audio system e.g. built in MP3 . The TWD ban also pre-empts existing TWD ordinances in several Texas cities including the stricter hands - free ordinance in Austin, Sugar Land, San Antonio, and El Paso . </P>

When did no texting and driving become a law
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