(A) No holder of a temporary instruction permit who has not attained the age of eighteen years and no holder of a probationary driver’s license shall drive a motor vehicle on any street, highway, or property used by the public for purposes of vehicular traffic or parking while using in any manner an electronic wireless communications device.

Terms Used In Ohio Code 4511.205

  • Child: includes child by adoption. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
  • highway: means the entire width between the boundary lines of every way open to the use of the public as a thoroughfare for purposes of vehicular travel. See Ohio Code 4511.01
  • Motor vehicle: means every vehicle propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power or power collected from overhead electric trolley wires, except motorized bicycles, electric bicycles, road rollers, traction engines, power shovels, power cranes, and other equipment used in construction work and not designed for or employed in general highway transportation, hole-digging machinery, well-drilling machinery, ditch-digging machinery, farm machinery, and trailers designed and used exclusively to transport a boat between a place of storage and a marina, or in and around a marina, when drawn or towed on a street or highway for a distance of no more than ten miles and at a speed of twenty-five miles per hour or less. See Ohio Code 4511.01
  • Person: means every natural person, firm, co-partnership, association, or corporation. See Ohio Code 4511.01
  • Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
  • suspension: means the permanent or temporary withdrawal, by action of a court or the bureau of motor vehicles, of a driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, probationary license, or nonresident operating privilege for the period of the suspension or the permanent or temporary withdrawal of the privilege to obtain a license, permit, or privilege of that type for the period of the suspension. See Ohio Code 4510.01
  • Traffic: means pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars, trackless trolleys, and other devices, either singly or together, while using for purposes of travel any highway or private road open to public travel. See Ohio Code 4511.01
  • Vehicle: means every device, including a motorized bicycle and an electric bicycle, in, upon, or by which any person or property may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except that "vehicle" does not include any motorized wheelchair, any electric personal assistive mobility device, any low-speed micromobility device, any personal delivery device as defined in section 4511. See Ohio Code 4511.01
  • Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02

(B) Division (A) of this section does not apply to either of the following:

(1) A person using an electronic wireless communications device for emergency purposes, including an emergency contact with a law enforcement agency, hospital or health care provider, fire department, or other similar emergency agency or entity;

(2) A person using an electronic wireless communications device whose motor vehicle is in a stationary position and the motor vehicle is outside a lane of travel;

(3) A person using a navigation device in a voice-operated or hands-free manner who does not manipulate the device while driving.

(C)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this section, whoever violates division (A) of this section shall be fined one hundred fifty dollars. In addition, the court shall impose a class seven suspension of the offender’s driver’s license or permit for a definite period of sixty days.

(2) If the person previously has been adjudicated a delinquent child or a juvenile traffic offender for a violation of this section, whoever violates this section shall be fined three hundred dollars. In addition, the court shall impose a class seven suspension of the person’s driver’s license or permit for a definite period of one year.

(D) The filing of a sworn complaint against a person for a violation of this section does not preclude the filing of a sworn complaint for a violation of a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance for the same conduct. However, if a person is adjudicated a delinquent child or a juvenile traffic offender for a violation of this section and is also adjudicated a delinquent child or a juvenile traffic offender for a violation of a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance for the same conduct, the two offenses are allied offenses of similar import under section 2941.25 of the Revised Code.

(E) As used in this section, “electronic wireless communications device” includes any of the following:

(1) A wireless telephone;

(2) A personal digital assistant;

(3) A computer, including a laptop computer and a computer tablet;

(4) A text-messaging device;

(5) Any other substantially similar electronic wireless device that is designed or used to communicate via voice, image, or written word.

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