Does Wisconsin Have a Hands-Free Driving Law?

Wisconsin does not have a universal hands-free driving law. Adult drivers with a regular license can still legally hold a phone to make a call in most places. What Wisconsin bans is texting and emailing behind the wheel for every driver, handheld phone use in work zones, and essentially all phone use by novice drivers and commercial vehicle operators. A bill to make the state fully hands-free, Senate Bill 935, was introduced in February 2026 but did not advance, so these narrower rules are what you have to follow.

Texting and Emailing Is Banned for Everyone

Every driver in Wisconsin, regardless of age or license type, is prohibited from composing or sending a text message or email while operating a motor vehicle.¹ The ban covers phones, tablets, and any device used to send text-based messages, including social media apps.

Reading incoming messages isn’t addressed explicitly in the statute, but picking up and looking at a phone can still draw a ticket under Wisconsin’s general inattentive driving provision if it interferes with safe driving. Wisconsin Statute 346.89(1) prohibits any activity, beyond driving itself, that interferes or reasonably appears to interfere with your ability to drive safely.¹

The texting ban is a primary enforcement offense. An officer who sees you typing on a phone can pull you over for that alone.²

No Handheld Phones in Work Zones

All drivers are barred from using a handheld cell phone when driving through an active work zone where workers are at risk from traffic. This covers highway construction zones, railroad maintenance areas, utility work areas, and emergency or roadside response areas.¹

The restriction isn’t limited to texting. Making a call, checking a map, or scrolling through music while holding your phone are all violations in these areas. Hands-free and voice-operated devices remain allowed as long as you don’t hold the phone or use your hands beyond pressing a single button to activate the feature.² Calling to report an emergency is also permitted. Like the texting ban, this is a primary enforcement offense.

Novice Drivers Can’t Use a Phone at All

Wisconsin’s strictest phone rule applies to drivers holding a probationary license or an instruction permit. These drivers cannot use a cell phone while driving at all, whether handheld or hands-free, unless they are reporting an emergency.³

A novice driver talking through a Bluetooth earpiece or the vehicle’s built-in speaker system is breaking the law. The exceptions that apply to other drivers, like hands-free voice commands, do not override this ban for probationary and permit holders. If you’re under Graduated Driver License restrictions, the phone goes away before you start the engine.

Commercial Drivers Follow a Federal Rule

Drivers of commercial motor vehicles cannot use a handheld mobile phone while driving. The federal rule at 49 CFR 392.82 prohibits holding a phone to make a call, dialing by pressing more than one button, or reaching for a phone in a way that takes you out of your seated driving position.⁴ Hands-free calls are permitted if the phone is mounted within close reach.

Phone violations count as serious traffic violations under federal law. Two serious traffic violations within three years trigger a minimum 60-day CDL disqualification, and three within three years result in at least 120 days. Those disqualification periods run consecutively, not concurrently.⁵

What Adult Drivers Can Still Do

For most adult drivers with a regular license, Wisconsin law carves out several permitted uses:

Hands-free calls using a voice-operated device, as long as you don’t hold the phone. Pressing a single button to answer or hang up is allowed.¹
GPS and navigation apps, including systems built into the vehicle.
Reporting an emergency to law enforcement or emergency services. This exception applies to every driver, including novice drivers.
Licensed amateur radio equipment.
Vehicle-integrated screens for monitoring backseat passengers, and devices whose primary function is transmitting emergency alerts or operating vehicle accessories.

None of these shields you from a general inattentive driving ticket. Fiddling with a dashboard GPS long enough to drift out of your lane can still draw a citation under the broader statute even though the device itself is allowed.

What a Ticket Costs

Wisconsin Statute 346.95 sets the forfeiture ranges, and the amount depends on which subsection you violate.

Texting or emailing while driving: $20 to $400, plus four demerit points.¹
General inattentive driving: $20 to $400, plus four demerit points.
Novice driver cell phone use, work zone handheld use, or watching a video device: $20 to $40 for a first offense, and $50 to $100 for a second or later conviction within a year.

Those are base amounts. The courthouse total runs higher once court costs and penalty surcharges are added. A first-offense work zone or novice driver violation that starts at $20 to $40 in the statute commonly lands in the $160 to $200 range after surcharges. Twelve or more demerit points within any 12-month period triggers a license suspension.

Extra Consequences Under the Graduated Driver License

Teen drivers pay a second price beyond the fine. Wisconsin’s Graduated Driver License system ties progress to a clean record.

Instruction permit holders must be violation-free for six months before applying for a probationary license. A phone ticket resets that clock, pushing eligibility out six months from the violation date.⁶
Probationary license holders with a prior moving conviction see their GDL restrictions extended by another six months after a cell phone violation. Demerit points also double when a driver under GDL restrictions has a prior moving violation on record.³⁷

For a 16- or 17-year-old, a single phone ticket can mean months of additional restricted driving and a faster path to suspension through doubled points.

Insurance and Crash Liability

A distracted driving conviction lands on your driving record, and insurers review that record when setting premiums. Carriers weigh violations differently, but a texting or inattentive driving conviction generally raises rates.

The larger exposure comes if you cause a crash while distracted. A citation for texting or inattentive driving is strong evidence of negligence in a civil case. Wisconsin follows a modified comparative negligence rule: you can recover damages as long as your share of fault doesn’t exceed the other party’s, but your award is reduced by your percentage of fault.⁸ If you were the distracted driver, that ticket will show up in the other side’s claim for medical bills, lost wages, and vehicle damage.

Will Wisconsin Go Fully Hands-Free?

Most states have adopted universal hands-free laws that ban all handheld phone use for every driver. Wisconsin remains in the minority that still allows adult drivers to hold a phone for calls in most situations. Senate Bill 935, introduced in February 2026, would have prohibited all phone use while driving. It was referred to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety and failed to advance before the session ended in March 2026.

Until the law changes, the practical rules are the ones already on the books. Don’t text or email while driving anywhere in the state. Don’t touch your phone in a work zone. If you hold a probationary license or an instruction permit, don’t use a phone at all. And even if you’re an adult making a handheld call on an open highway, the general inattentive driving statute still applies if the call distracts you enough to affect how you drive.

1
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 346 – Inattentive Driving
2
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. No Handheld Mobile Device Usage in Work Zones
3
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Cell Phones, Driving and the Law
4
eCFR. 49 CFR 392.82 – Using a Hand-Held Mobile Telephone
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 49 USC 31310 – Disqualifications
6
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Graduated Driver License and Teen Driving Requirements FAQs
7
Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Graduated Driver License Points and Convictions
8
Wisconsin State Legislature. Wisconsin Code 895 – Contributory Negligence