BATON ROUGE - A Louisiana law prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving is now being fully enforced.

From now on, while driving, phones can only be used for hands-free voice calls, navigation and in emergencies.

The bill's main author was state Rep. Brian Glorioso (R-Slidell). One state rep involved with creating it is Mandie Landry (D-New Orleans). Landry said they had been trying to get this bill passed for five to six years before finally succeeding.

"Basically, unless your car is completely stopped, you cannot have your phone in your hands. There are some exceptions, if you need to call 911, if there's some sort of emergency," Landry said.

Landry said she backed the bill because of Louisiana's high traffic fatality rate. Data from the Center for Analytics and Research in Transportation Safety shows that 753 people died in Louisiana from motor vehicle crashes in 2024.

"Really high accident rates, and there are a lot of reasons for that. We don't have a lot of safety features on our roads. We have a high population who is uninsured," Landry said.

The penalty for the offense is $100 if the offense does not occur in a school or construction zone, and $250 if it does.

"In almost every circumstance, law enforcement cannot pull you over just for having your phone in your hand. They would need to add it to, for example, driving with your lights off at night, or an expired brake tag, or anything that they could pull you over for. Driving with the phone in your hand would be secondary to that," Landry said.

However, that changes when it occurs in a school or construction zone.

"They can absolutely pull you over for having a phone in your hand," Landry said.

If a person is involved in a crash at the time of the violation, the normal fine can be doubled.

Many drivers say they support the new law.

"I think it's a good direction to try to reduce people from texting and driving, talking on the phone, I don't think it's as much of an intrusion to your concentration," St. Francisville Resident Caroline Alberstadt said.

Officials recommend using a hands-free device like CarPlay or Bluetooth.

"I'm behind it because I think a lot of the time when you're driving, especially this time of the year when there's so many more cars on the road, you get so many people that are driving distracted, they've got their phone in their hand," Baton Rouge resident Andon Brabham said.

A judge does have the ability to lower the fine's amount in exchange for community services.