(Photo by Alexandra Olgin - KJZZ)

Phoenix, Flagstaff and Tucson have texting-while-driving bans for motorists of all ages. A bill introduced into the state legislature would prohibit phone usage for teenagers for six months after they get their drivers licenses. 

Arizona already has a graduated driver’s license law that restricts the time teenage drivers can be out on the road and the number of passengers allowed in one car. This new provision would add an all-out ban on wireless communication devices for the first six months they have this license. AAA spokeswoman Michelle Donati said she hopes this legislation has lasting effects on teens.

“We can help them create safer driving habits so they’ll continue to leave that phone alone when they are driving beyond the restricted period when they are not allowed to use a wireless communication device," Donati said.

This is the fourth consecutive year this same bill has been introduced.

“It’s vitally important to cut down on distractions for teenagers," said Insurance Institute for Highway Safety spokesman Russ Rader.

He just isn’t sure that legislation is the way to do it. The institute did a study in North Carolina before and after the state enacted a phone-usage ban for teens in 2006.    

“We compared their phone use prior to the ban and after the ban took effect and we found no change in their use of phones after the ban had been in effect for two years," Rader said.

Surveys after the study indicated the problem with these laws is that teens and parents view them as unenforceable. In Arizona’s proposed law, the phone restriction is a secondary offense, which means a driver can only get cited for breaking this law after being pulled over for another (primary) offense.