What A.R.S. § 28-914 actually says, and how a $75 ticket becomes a class 1 misdemeanor under A.R.S. § 28-672
By Jamal F. Allen, Allen Law Firm, Arizona’s Big Crash Lawyers
The short version. Arizona’s hands-free law, A.R.S. § 28-914, makes it illegal to hold a phone while driving. A first ticket is $75 to $149. But § 28-914 is also one of twelve violations listed in A.R.S. § 28-672, which means that if your phone use causes a crash that seriously injures or kills someone, the ticket becomes a class 1 misdemeanor: a criminal charge carrying up to six months in jail, a license suspension, and mandatory traffic survival school.
Most drivers know the first half of that. Almost nobody knows the second.
What Arizona’s hands-free law prohibits
Section 28-914 bans two things while you operate a motor vehicle on a street or highway.
Holding it. You may not physically hold or support a portable wireless communication device, or a stand-alone electronic device, with any part of your body. Not your hand, not your shoulder, not your lap.
Reading or writing text. You may not write, send, or read any text-based communication. The statute names text messages, instant messages, email, and internet data.
One carve-out is built into the opening line. The ban applies unless the vehicle is parked or stopped for a red signal under § 28-645(A)(3) or stopped at a railroad grade crossing under § 28-851.
So a driver stopped at a red light on Alma School is outside the prohibition. A driver creeping forward at three miles per hour on the 60 is not.
What is still legal
This is the part that matters most to ordinary drivers, and the part news coverage almost never explains.
Voice dictation. Using voice to direct the writing, sending, or reading of a text is permitted.
Hands-free devices, including your car’s built-in interface. You may use a hand to activate or deactivate a function, such as the button on your steering wheel.
An earpiece, headphones, or a wrist-worn device for a voice conversation.
Navigation, GPS, and vehicle information, used hands-free.
Emergencies. The section does not apply when you use a device to report illegal activity or summon emergency help. Call 911.
Four groups of driver fall outside the section entirely: operators of authorized emergency, law enforcement, or probation vehicles acting officially; FCC-licensed operators using a radio frequency device that is not a portable wireless device; operators using a two-way or private land mobile radio under 47 C.F.R. Part 90 during work duties in a fleet vehicle or with a commercial driver license; and operators using a vehicle-affixed device to relay information to a dispatcher or a digital network in the course of their occupation.
The statute’s definition also excludes radios, CB radios, commercial two-way radios, subscription emergency devices, prescribed medical devices, ham radios, and built-in security, navigation, or diagnostics systems.
What a hands-free ticket costs in Arizona
Standing alone, a violation is civil, not criminal.
* First violation: at least $75, not more than $149
* Second or subsequent: at least $150, not more than $250
Three details people ask about. An officer stopping you for this violation may not take or inspect your device unless otherwise authorized by law. Except as provided in § 28-3312, no state agency may use the violation to decide whether your license should be suspended. And since the end of 2020 the rule has been uniform statewide, because cities, towns, and counties are preempted from adding their own.
When does using a phone while driving become a crime in Arizona?
When somebody gets hurt.
Section 28-672 is titled causing serious physical injury or death by a moving violation. It lists twelve violations, including running a red light, failing to yield, passing a stopped school bus, and speeding in a school crossing. At paragraph twelve is section 28-914.
Commit any one of them, and the violation causes a crash that seriously injures or kills another person, and you have committed a crime. Specifically:
* Class 1 misdemeanor, the most serious misdemeanor grade in Arizona. Up to six months in jail under § 13-707, and a fine up to $2,500 under § 13-802, plus statutory surcharges.
* “Serious physical injury” takes its meaning from § 13-105: injury creating a reasonable risk of death, serious and permanent disfigurement, serious impairment of health, or loss or protracted impairment of the function of any bodily organ or limb. Broader than most people assume. A badly broken limb can qualify.
* Mandatory traffic survival school. The court may also order community restitution.
* License suspension or restriction. On a first violation, at least 90 days and up to 180 for serious physical injury; at least 180 days and up to a year where someone dies.
* Restitution capped at $100,000 under § 13-603.
*Two years to prosecute, running from actual discovery of the offense, or when reasonable diligence should have discovered it. Most misdemeanors allow one.
Two points of precision, because both drivers and lawyers get these wrong in opposite directions.
Under § 28-672 itself, a death carries the same class 1 misdemeanor classification as a serious injury. The statute lengthens the license suspension, not the offense class. That does not mean a fatal distracted-driving crash can only be a misdemeanor. Depending on the facts, the conduct may be charged under Title 13. Section 28-672 is a floor, not a ceiling.
And subsection F contains something unusual. If the person who suffered the serious physical injury appears in court before trial and acknowledges receipt of satisfaction for the injury, the court shall dismiss the prosecution on payment of costs, and that order bars another prosecution for the same offense.
Why the law is written this way
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 3,208 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2024. In 2023 the figure was 3,275.
NHTSA’s own description of the risk remains the clearest sentence written on the subject: sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for five seconds, and at 55 miles per hour that is like driving the length of a football field with your eyes closed.
Do the arithmetic instead of picturing the field. Five seconds at 55 miles per hour is about 400 feet in which nobody is driving your car. Not driving badly. Not driving. In 400 feet a light changes, brake lights come on ahead of you, a child steps off a curb near Dobson and Guadalupe, and none of it reaches you in time to matter.
The FCC, drawing on NHTSA data, reports 437 deaths in 2024 in crashes involving a driver engaged in cellphone-related activity, with cellphone use cited in 14 percent of distraction-affected fatal crashes. Distraction affected 8 percent of fatal crashes and 13 percent of injury crashes.
One honest caveat, and it comes from NHTSA rather than from me. The agency states that distraction-affected crashes are underreported. Drivers are unlikely to volunteer they were texting, and when a driver dies, investigators must reconstruct the crash without that account. The true numbers are almost certainly higher than the published ones.
Five habits that keep you legal and alive
- Mount the phone before you move. A vent mount converts most violations into non-violations because you are no longer holding anything.
- 2. Set navigation in park. Hands-free navigation is lawful. Typing a destination while rolling is exactly what the statute reaches.
- Turn on driving mode. Both major phone systems will silence notifications and autoreply. One-time setup.
- Pair the car or wear an earpiece. Both are expressly permitted.
- If a call cannot wait, park. A parking lot, not the shoulder of the 202.
If you have a teenager in the house, understand that they are watching what you do, not what you say.
Common questions
Can I use my phone at a red light in Arizona? Yes. The prohibition does not apply while your vehicle is stopped for a red signal under § 28-645(A)(3), parked, or stopped at a railroad crossing under § 28-851. It does apply the moment you are moving again, including in stop-and-go traffic.
Can I hold my phone if I am only using GPS? No. Navigation is permitted hands-free, but holding the device is a separate violation regardless of what is on the screen.
Does a hands-free ticket put points on my license? Except as provided in § 28-3312, a state department or agency may not consider a § 28-914 violation in deciding whether to suspend or revoke your license. A conviction under § 28-672 is a different matter and does carry a suspension.
Can an officer take my phone during the stop? No. Under § 28-914(F), an officer stopping you for an alleged violation may not take possession of or inspect the device unless otherwise authorized by law.
Do the rules change city to city in Arizona? No. Since December 31, 2020, this is a matter of statewide concern, and local regulations that conflict are void.
Is texting and driving a felony in Arizona? Not under § 28-672, which classifies both serious injury and death as class 1 misdemeanors. Other charges under Title 13 may apply depending on the facts.
If a distracted driver hurt your family
Proving distraction is specific work, and it is time sensitive. Phone records, device data, app activity, and the vehicle’s own event data all exist and can be obtained through legal process. They also get overwritten and cycled out on their own schedules.
If a serious injury is involved, there may also be a criminal case under § 28-672 running alongside your civil claim. That case belongs to the State, not to you, but Arizona gives crime victims rights within it that a lawyer can explain.
Call us at 480-899-1025. If we are not the right firm for your case, we will say so and point you toward someone who is.
Allen Law Firm, Arizona’s Big Crash Lawyers
1660 S. Alma School Rd., Suite 207, Mesa, AZ 85210 480-899-1025
Bad crash. Good lawyers. goodazlawyers.com
Statutes: A.R.S. § 28-914 (portable wireless communication device while driving); § 28-672 (causing serious physical injury or death by a moving violation); § 13-105 (serious physical injury); § 13-707 and § 13-802 (misdemeanor jail and fines); § 13-603 (restitution); § 28-645(A)(3) and § 28-851 (stopped-vehicle carve-outs); § 28-3312. Confirm current text at azleg.gov.
Data: NHTSA, Distracted Driving (nhtsa.gov), reporting 3,208 distraction-affected fatalities in 2024, 3,275 in 2023, and the five-second figure; NHTSA has stated these crashes are subject to underreporting. FCC, The Dangers of Distracted Driving (fcc.gov), reporting 437 cellphone-related fatalities in 2024.
General information about Arizona law, not legal advice. Reading this does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you are facing a citation or criminal charge, or you were injured by a distracted driver, speak with a lawyer about your specific facts.