Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Washington State Patrol says it will have no grace period for drivers who violate the state’s new cell phone ban.

The law goes into effect Monday night after midnight. It makes it illegal to drive while holding a cell phone to your ear. Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins reports.

It’s a secondary offense, so police can’t stop you just for yakking. But they can get you for speeding, weaving or other traffic infractions.

Once they have you stopped they can write a $124 ticket for driving while holding a cell phone.

Washington State Patrol Sgt. Freddy Williams says it’s also illegal to dial a call while driving.

Freddy Williams: “Anything that takes your eyes off the road and puts it onto the phone for any period of time, such as dialing, is against the law. Most of the modern phones now with the blue tooth capability also have voice dialing. So we encourage people to become familiar with the voice dialing.”

The State Patrol would prefer people not talk and drive at all. But the law says you can talk as long as you have a hands-free device.

There’s an exemption if you’re calling 911.

Earlier this year a ban on texting while driving took effect in Washington. So far troopers have reported 25 violations – of those half the drivers got tickets.