Law Prohibiting Cell Phone Use in a School or Road Construction Zone in Effect as of July 1

Press Release from Angela Deines with the Kansas Department of Education

As of July 1, per House Substitute for Senate Bill 366, it is illegal to manually hold a mobile telephone and use it while operating a motor vehicle in a school or road construction zone at a time when a reduced speed limit is enforced.

Law enforcement officers will issue warnings for anyone they see as violating this law until July 1, 2027. After that, violators will be subject to $60 fines.

According to the law, exceptions for holding and using a mobile telephone in a school or road construction zone include the following:

• Reporting current or ongoing illegal activity to a law enforcement agency;

• Preventing imminent injury to a person or property;

• Summoning medical or other emergency assistance; or

• Relaying information between a transit or for-hire operator and the operator's dispatcher, if the device is permanently affixed to the motor vehicle.