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How the Proposed NTSB Cell Phone Ban for Drivers Could Affect Your Car Insurance

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) [wants all 50 states to adopt laws banning the use of all cellphones for all drivers](http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-13/us/us_ntsb-cell-phone-ban_1_smart-phones-texting-pickup-truck-driver?_s=PM:US). I think we can all agree such laws would make the roads safer but how might they affect your car insurance premiums?

Assuming that all states were to enact such laws (a major challenge in its own right), the biggest variable in terms of car insurance would be whether getting caught using your phone while driving is a chargeable violation, i.e. one that yields a point on your record.

Currently, in those state that do fine drivers for using their phones, such violations are not chargeable and therefore do not count as points. A speeding ticket, in comparison, is almost always a one-point moving violation. Public and federal pressure could push citations stemming from cell phone usage to a one-point charge, level with with speeding, which could raise the price of your car insurance policy, especially if you get more than one.

It is highly unlikely that such transgressions will be deemed two-point violations on par with DUIs and driving with a suspended license, though with the ever-increasing proliferation of mobile devices and the number of those killed using them every year growing quickly, it is difficult to predict how stringent the laws could become.

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