When I was driving downstate last weekend, I noticed several billboards along I-75 saying something about texting and driving. Those signs led me to believe that it is now illegal to text and drive in Michigan. Is that true?

- Samantha in Suttons Bay

The dangers of "distracted driving" seem to have been all over the news the past few years. Cell phones now have the capability of not only making calls, but sending text messages, emails, browsing the internet, and playing games. Texting is the new way to communicate, and studies show people with cell phones receive more texts than phone calls nowadays. However, texting while driving is a dangerously distracting way to multitask, and many, many car accidents are the result of a person taking their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel to read or send a message from their phone.

As of July 1, 2010, it is illegal to text and drive on any road in Michigan. MCL 257.602b(1) states that "a person shall not read, manually type, or send a text message on a wireless 2-way communication devise that is located in the person's hand or in the person's lap…while operating a motor vehicle that is moving on a highway or street in this state." Under the new law, it doesn't matter if you are texting while at a stop light or driving down the I-75; both will get you a ticket. A first offense of the new texting while driving ban results in a $100 fine, $200 for each additional fine, but with no points on your record. If pulled over, drivers may be asked by the officer to see their phone, but because texting while driving is just a civil infraction and not a crime, they cannot confiscate it. In the event of a car crash that leads to a serious injury or death, the police can issue a search warrant to check the driver's text messages to determine if texting played a role in the accident.

The law contains several exemptions to the texting while driving ban. For example, a driver can text while driving to (1) report a traffic accident, medical emergency, or road hazard; (2)report a situation in which the person believes his or her safety is in jeopardy; (3) report or avert the perpetration or potential perpetration of a criminal act; and (4) to carry out the official duties as a law enforcement official.

Dialing and talking on the phone (without a headset) is still legal in Michigan. However, some areas of Michigan are even moving towards "hands-free" cell phone use while driving. For example, the City of Detroit enacted a cell phone ban in that took effect in 2006. Detroit's cell phone ban ordinance allows police to stop and ticket a driver for no other reason than for talking on a handheld cell phone while driving in the city limits. No such law, however, exists in Northern Michigan yet.