Don’t Play with Your Phone While Driving in Utah

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah drivers caught fiddling with their phones while on the road could soon face a $100 fine.

A state ban starting Tuesday forbids anyone behind the wheel from tapping out numbers or other information on the devices. But using them to search for directions is still allowed. The new law takes Utah's ban on texting and driving one step further, says St. George Republican Sen. Stephen Urquhart, who brought the legislation this year.

It prevents in-transit texters, he says, from skirting penalties by saying they were doing something else such as checking Facebook, dialing a phone number or changing a playlist. If a driver breaks the new law and it causes an accident that injures someone, the driver could face a $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail.