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From tickets to incarceration, the consequences for texting and driving can costly.

A growing number of states, counties, and municipalities are enacting "distracted driving" laws that categorically ban texting while driving. Even in states without explicit laws, behind-the-wheel texting can lead to negligent and reckless driving charges, giving every driver good reason to keep their hands on the wheel and off their phones.

Here are five potential consequences for texting and driving:

1. Tickets. Most states allow law enforcement to issue drivers a traffic citation solely for texting and driving, called a "primary enforcement" law. In California, the fines with fees stemming from a ticket can top $300 for the first offense. That's an awful lot of money to fork over for a "LOL :-)."

2. Driver's license points. Drivers in states which use point systems to track drivers' records could incur points for texting and driving. If a driver accumulates a certain number of points, his or her driving privileges can be suspended and, in more serious or repeat offender cases, revoked.

3. Insurance penalties. Insurance companies also have access to a driver's driving points record and may use behind-the-wheel texting points as a basis to raise insurance premiums. In New York, for example, drivers who get caught texting behind the wheel receive five points on their insurance.

4. Criminal charges. Many states dole out hefty punishments including jail time for behind-the-wheel texting that leads to serious injury or death. Sound like fear-mongering? Guess again. A number of cases exist in which texting drivers wound up with vehicular manslaughter or homicide charges.

5. Guilt. Critically acclaimed documentary filmmaker Werner Herzog's new documentary on this topic will "shame you out of texting while driving," according to The Atlantic. The 30-minute YouTube film, embedded below, traces the victims -- and most notably, the heartbreaking remorse of texting drivers who killed people. Texting while driving can cost you your freedom, your finances, and most devastatingly of all, your conscience.

Fortunately, if you're helplessly addicted to your phone, you can fight e-fire with e-fire and download an anti-distracted driving app. While you're at it, check out our tips on how to avoid distracted driving.

It's time to put your phone down, turn your music up and enjoy the ride.

Related Resources:

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Texting and Driving: 5 Potential Consequences

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From tickets to incarceration, the consequences for texting and driving can costly. A growing number of states, counties, and municipalities are enacting "distracted driving" laws that categorically ban texting while driving. Even in states without explicit laws, behind-the-wheel texting can lead to negligent and reckless driving charges, giving every driver good reason to keep their hands on the wheel and off their phones.

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The good news: fatal car crashes are In fact, the leading cause of death for teenage drivers on the decline. The bad news: fatal car crashes involving cell phone use-anything from texting to talking to reaching for a ringing phone- are on the rise. is now texting, not drinking, with nearly a dozen teens dying each day in a texting-related car crash. Stark figures like this have driven 46 states to pass legislation banning texting and driving. But texting fines vary wildly across the country, and you'll end up paying a little or a lot depending on where you got caught.

In California, the maximum penalty for a first-time offender is just $20, the lowest in the country, while Alaska will slap you with a whopping $10,000 fine and a year in prison. Meanwhile, some states don't allow cops to pull drivers over for texting, but can impose a texting fine on top of another penalty, like speeding. Confused yet? Keep your eyes on the road: we've rounded up maximum first-offense fines for fully licensed drivers in each state ( jump down to see the full table), along with a few more sobering stats on using your phone while behind the wheel. Remember: local laws may apply even if there's no statewide ban where you're driving, but to be safe-literally-just don't text and drive.

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How Much Does Your State Fine For Texting and Driving?

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The good news: fatal car crashes are In fact, the leading cause of death for teenage drivers on the decline. The bad news: fatal car crashes involving cell phone use-anything from texting to talking to reaching for a ringing phone- are on the rise.

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CLOSE

Amid rising crashes and traffic deaths in Milwaukee, a Democratic state lawmaker wants to allow the city to use cameras to catch speeders and drivers who blow through red lights.

State Rep. David Crowley (D-Milwaukee) proposed the measure Tuesday afternoon at City Hall flanked by 11 members of the city's Common Council.

"We have had mothers, daughters, sons and fathers lost to this growing epidemic and it's extremely important that we do everything we can to stop this," Crowley said.

Under state law, police departments statewide are banned from using cameras to enforce traffic signals and speed limits and ticket drivers.

The proposal calls for a five-year pilot program in Milwaukee to guarantee stricter enforcement of traffic laws, reduced cost of enforcement and freeing up officers to focus on "larger crime problems," according to a memo from Crowley's office seeking co-sponsors.

RELATED: After latest stolen car crash, Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn to announce surge in traffic enforcement

Over the past eight years, the city has seen a 73% increase in traffic fatalities and a 60% drop in traffic citations, the memo says.

Ald. Khalif Rainey described the reckless driving as "red light roulette," saying it makes everyone who travels in the city vulnerable.

"We have people in our community who have decided they don't care about their lives so therefore they don't care about the lives of others," he said.

The Milwaukee Police Department presented this information on Oct. 5 during the Common Council's Public Safety and Health Committee meeting. (Photo: Milwaukee Police Department)

The aldermen cited a recent study in the Journal of Safety Research that found large cities with red-light cameras have 21% fewer fatal crashes caused by drivers who ignore those traffic signals.

In Chicago, the cameras have contributed to a 40% reduction in crashes causing injuries and death since 2003. Last year, tickets from the red-light cameras at 151 intersections totaled $59 million, while tickets from the speed cameras totaled $51 million.

The camera proposal comes a day after Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn announced a surge in traffic enforcement following a stolen car crash that injured multiple people.

The Police Department supports the legislation, said Lt. Derrick Harris of the Neighborhood Task Force, which houses the motorcycle unit and investigates all fatal and serious injury crashes.

"In conjunction with enforcement, education and the new legislation, we hope we can put together mind-changing behavior in our city," Harris said.

The pilot program will limit the number of cameras - estimated at 35 citywide - by aldermanic district so no one area is "oversaturated," Crowley said.

If the law were approved, the city plans to use revenues from the cameras to pay for the system, Ald. Terry Witkowski said.

City officials will study how other cities have used the cameras to see what is fair and what has caused problems, such as lawsuits, in other places, he said.

"Are there cities that have had problems? Yes," Witkowski said. "But a system that is fair and is well-studied to start with should not have any problems."

Under the state proposal:

Cameras would be placed in "high-risk" intersections and roads as determined by state Department of Transportation data.

Tickets for speeding would be automated for vehicles going 20 mph or more above the speed limit.

Officials would have to run a 30-day informational campaign before the cameras are active. Once they are active, authorities would issue only warnings for the first 90 days.

The Milwaukee Police Department would develop a policy for using information captured by the cameras and who may access that information.

Tickets would cost $50 to $100.

Read or Share this story: https://jsonl.in/2ytdoUc

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State lawmaker pushes for red-light, speeding cameras in Milwaukee

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CLOSE Amid rising crashes and traffic deaths in Milwaukee, a Democratic state lawmaker wants to allow the city to use cameras to catch speeders and drivers who blow through red lights. State Rep. David Crowley (D-Milwaukee) proposed the measure Tuesday afternoon at City Hall flanked by 11 members of the city's Common Council.

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Nearly everyone agrees that texting and driving is dangerous. Most people do it anyway.

In a new survey, 98 percent of motorists who own cellphones and text regularly said they were aware of the dangers, yet three-quarters of them admitted to texting while driving, despite laws against it in some states. Two-thirds said they have read text messages while stopped at a red light or stop sign, while more than a quarter said they have sent texts while driving.

More than a quarter of the texting drivers believed they "can easily do several things at once, even while driving."

The telephone survey of 1,004 U.S. adults was released Wednesday by AT&T Inc. as part of an anti-texting-and-driving campaign. AT&T designed the survey with David Greenfield, founder of The Center for Internet and Technology Addiction and a professor at the University of Connecticut's School of Medicine.

The survey came as AT&T expanded availability of a free app that silences text message alerts and activates automatically when a person is moving 15 miles per hour or faster. (Passengers can turn it off.) The DriveMode app is coming to iPhones after being previously available on Android and BlackBerry phones for AT&T users only. The iPhone version will be available to customers of competing carriers as well, but some functions will work only on AT&T devices.

The study in May was of cellphone owners ages 16 to 65 who drive almost every day and text at least once a day. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Researchers conducted surveys with people on their cellphones, and it's possible those who would have picked up on a landline might have different attitudes.

Greenfield said the survey is the latest to show a discrepancy between people's attitudes and behaviors.

It found a broad range of reasons why drivers text. Forty-three percent of the texting drivers said they want to "stay connected" to friends, family and work. Nearly a third did it out of habit.

Among other reasons for texting and driving:

- Twenty-eight percent said they are worried about missing out of something important if they don't check their phones right away.

- More than a quarter believes that their driving performance is not affected by texting, and just as many people said they believe that others expect them to respond to texts "right away."

- Just 6 percent answered that they are "addicted to texting," although 14 percent admitted that they are "anxious" if they don't respond to a text right away, and 17 percent feel "a sense of satisfaction" when they can read or respond to a text message.

Reggie Shaw was 19 in 2006 when he caused a car accident while texting, killing two people. Today, he speaks out against texting and driving.

"It's something I struggle with every day," he said. "I know that I need to go out and talk to others about it. I don't want others to make the same mistake I did."

Shaw does not remember what he was texting about right before the accident. Back then, he said, "being on my phone when I drove was something I did all the time. It was just driving to me. I guess you'd call it ignorance but I never understood that it was dangerous. How could me being on the phone cause a car accident?"

Today, his phone is off when he's driving. Never in the past eight years since the accident, he says, has he gotten a phone call or text message that was so important that it couldn't wait until he stopped the car.

Greenfield, who studies the effects of digital technology on the brain, likes to call smartphones "the world's smallest slot machines" because they affect the brain in similar ways that gambling or drugs can. Dopamine levels increase as you anticipate messages, and that leads to higher levels of pleasure. Getting desirable messages can increase dopamine levels further.

While all distractions can be dangerous, much of the focus has been on texting and driving, Greenfield said, because "it's ongoing and because there is an anticipatory aspect to it."

Greenfield said people should not use their phone at all while driving, but acknowledges that this might not be realistic. Apps, public education and laws that ban texting and driving, he said, will all help change people's behavior, just as anti-drunken-driving laws and public education campaigns have reduced drunken driving over the past few decades.

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Why so many people text and drive, knowing dangers

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Nearly everyone agrees that texting and driving is dangerous. Most people do it anyway. In a new survey, 98 percent of motorists who own cellphones and text regularly said they were aware of the dangers, yet three-quarters of them admitted to texting while driving, despite laws against it in some states.

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Wisconsin distracted driving laws went into effect on December 1st, 2010, when texting while driving became illegal. Since then, new bans have been added, including the ban on all cell phone use for novice drivers, which became effective on November 1st, 2012.

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The 25 Scariest Texting and Driving Accident Statistics

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Texting is a leading cause of traffic accidents that kill more than 3,000 people every day. Check out these statistics and stop texting and driving now.

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Costs associated with motor vehicle accidents.