Montana Distracted Driving Law 2026: The Only State With No Ban and Why It Matters
Montana Distracted Driving Law 2026: The Only State With No Ban and Why It Matters
There is no Montana distracted driving law. Not a partial one. Not a texting-only ban. Not a secondary enforcement provision. Nothing. Montana stands alone as the only U.S. state that still permits a driver to text while driving a motor vehicle.
As of 2026, 49 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands all enforce texting while driving laws for all drivers. Only Montana lacks a statewide ban.
The most recent opportunity to change this came in 2025. The most recent attempt by the Montana legislature to pass a law banning texting while driving happened in 2025, when Senate Bill 359, which would have provided penalties for distracted driving, failed to pass. SB 359 died in process on May 23, 2025 — despite passing the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee with a unanimous 8-0 vote just months earlier.
This guide covers the complete Montana distracted driving law picture for 2026: what the absence of a statewide law actually means for Montana drivers and visitors, where local ordinances do apply (15 specific locations), what SB 359 would have done and why it failed, the human story of Chloe Worl that gave the 2025 effort its most visible public case, what Senator Jeremy Trebas has proposed that goes even further in the opposite direction, and what drivers should do in Montana in the absence of any statewide standard.
What No Statewide Law Actually Means
The absence of a Montana distracted driving law at the statewide level is not a technicality or a loophole. It is a literal legal permission for any adult driver on any Montana state or federal highway to:
Text while driving at 80 mph on I-90 through the Rocky Mountains.
Hold a phone to their ear for a call at any speed on any Montana highway.
Read emails while driving on any Montana public road.
Scroll social media while operating a vehicle on any Montana road outside the 15 locations with local ordinances.
Montana does not have any laws prohibiting drivers from talking on the phone or even texting while driving.
Once you hit the highways and byways of Big Sky Country, there is no law saying you can’t text to your heart’s content behind the wheel of a two-ton vehicle barreling down the interstate at 80 miles per hour.
This is not a hypothetical. It is the legal reality as of August 2026. A Montana Highway Patrol officer who observes a driver texting at 75 mph on US-2 between Havre and Glasgow cannot cite the driver for that behavior under any statewide statute. The driver is doing nothing illegal under Montana state law.
The only exception: the 15 specific local jurisdictions with their own ordinances, discussed below.
SB 359: The Bill That Could Have Changed Everything — And Failed
Montana Senate Bill 359, sponsored by Senator Sara Novak (D-36), was introduced in the 2025 Montana Legislature as the most comprehensive attempt yet to establish a statewide distracted driving ban.
SB 359 would prohibit handheld use of an electronic device while driving and texting while driving. It also would restrict other distracting uses while driving, including, but not limited to watching videos, videoconferencing and viewing of internet data such as social media.
The bill’s specific provisions, drawn from SB 359’s text as amended:
The bill makes it illegal to write, send, watch, or read text-based or video-based communications, watch videos (except navigation-related), or record and post videos while driving. The law allows for hands-free communications using earpieces, wrist devices, or voice-based commands, and provides exceptions for emergency services, law enforcement, and work-related communication devices. Drivers can still use devices for navigation, GPS, or vehicle-related information when used hands-free. First-time violators will face a civil penalty ranging from $75 to $149, with subsequent violations incurring fines between $150 and $250. The bill also amends existing traffic regulations to include distracted driving as a 3-point violation on a driver’s record.
SB 359 passed the Senate Highways and Transportation Committee 8-0 on February 26, 2025 — a unanimous bipartisan committee vote that appeared to signal momentum. It ultimately died in process on May 23, 2025. The specific procedural mechanism of its failure — dying in process rather than receiving a floor vote — means the full Montana Senate never voted on it, preventing a definitive record of individual senator positions.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which advocated for SB 359, stated that Montana is the only state without a law to curb distracted driving and urged the Montana House to vote yes on the bill. The advocacy effort from national highway safety organizations that has successfully pushed hands-free legislation through dozens of other state legislatures was insufficient to move SB 359 through the Montana legislative process in 2025.
The Opposition: Why Montana Keeps Refusing
The reasons for Montana’s repeated legislative failures on distracted driving span philosophy, politics, and genuine policy disagreement.
Some cited deep-seated objections to the elimination of any personal rights, as well as issues over how effective that the enforcement of the law could be. Some believe that people from Montana simply don’t want anyone telling them what to do.
The personal liberty argument is the most consistent thread through Montana’s legislative history on this issue. Montana repealed its daytime speed limit on rural highways in 1995 — part of the same political culture that resists traffic law expansion. The state is one of only two that never adopted a national maximum speed limit framework without resistance, and the political coalition that defeated speed limits has applied the same logic to phone use restrictions.
The enforcement challenge argument has particular resonance in Montana’s geography. Montana covers 147,040 square miles with a population of approximately 1.1 million — roughly 7.5 people per square mile. The Montana Highway Patrol is responsible for patrolling one of the largest rural highway networks in the country with one of the smallest population bases. In a state where a driver may travel 50 miles between population centers, the practical enforcement density is dramatically lower than in Ohio, Michigan, or Georgia — states where primary enforcement hands-free laws have produced documented crash reductions. The argument that a Montana texting ban would be unenforceable in practice has more geographic credibility in Big Sky Country than it does in Northern Virginia.
The most extreme legislative position comes from Montana Senator Jeremy Trebas, who is not only against a texting ban, but who also wants to eliminate the bans that other counties and cities have already put into place. In Trebas’ words, “These laws are going to make the roads more dangerous because people are just going to hide it and put the phone lower in their car instead of keeping their phone up and their eyes up.”
Senator Trebas’s argument — that a ban produces worse outcomes by driving behavior underground rather than eliminating it — is not supported by the documented outcome data from states that have passed primary enforcement handheld bans. Ohio’s 18,000 fewer crashes over two years, Colorado’s 600 crashes prevented, and Iowa’s 140,700 fewer phone-motion events all occurred in primary enforcement law states where the “drivers will just hide it” prediction was tested and contradicted by actual behavior change. But the argument resonates politically in Montana’s legislative culture.
Chloe Worl: The Human Cost Behind SB 359
Senate Bill 359 came in the wake of the death of 25-year-old Chloe Worl, who was killed by another driver who plowed into Chloe’s vehicle while texting on her cell phone.
Chloe Worl’s death is the specific human story behind Montana’s most recent legislative push. A 25-year-old killed by a driver who was texting — a death that would be a criminal violation in every other state in the country, in a state where the same behavior is legal under state law. Her family’s advocacy for SB 359 gave the bill its most compelling public face and reflected the same named-victim legislative pattern that has driven successful distracted driving legislation in other states: Jake’s Law in Maryland (named after Jake Owen, killed at age 5 by a cell phone driver), Paul Miller’s Law in Pennsylvania (named after a teenager killed by a distracted driver), and the Hands-Free Georgia Act (named after Hannah Smith, killed at 17).
In Montana, Chloe Worl’s death and her family’s advocacy were not enough to move SB 359 through the legislature in 2025. The bill that her death helped motivate died in process without a floor vote.
Sheila Cozzie works for the Montana Department Of Transportation. She’s trying to spread the word on the dangers of texting while driving. That takes her to high schools and reservations where she talks with Montana’s young drivers. “If you ask the FCCLA groups, which I did just last week, what do you think is your number one traffic safety issue is it’s always going to be cellphone use,” Cozzie said.
The Montana Department of Transportation is actively educating on distracted driving despite the absence of any legal authority to prohibit it. The MDT’s position — that texting while driving is “one of the most dangerous of all distracted driving activities” — exists in stark contrast to the state’s legislative stance that no law should prohibit it.
Where Local Ordinances Apply: The 15 Exceptions
The absence of a statewide Montana distracted driving law does not mean that all of Montana is completely lawless regarding distracted driving. Some cities and counties in this state have enacted their own laws against this risky behavior.
There are 15 locations throughout the state with a ban on the use of cell phones while driving — that includes 1 reservation, 2 counties and 12 cities.
There are two counties and nine cities within the state that have put their own texting while driving bans in place.
The specific locations with local ordinances include: Butte-Silver Bow County, Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, and cities including Billings, Missoula, Helena, Bozeman, Great Falls, Kalispell, and other Montana municipalities that have individually enacted ordinances.
The practical implication for Montana drivers and visitors is a patchwork of local rules: no restriction on state highways, but potential citations within specific city limits. A driver who picks up their phone on I-90 outside Bozeman is doing nothing illegal under Montana law. The same driver who picks up their phone on Main Street in Bozeman may be violating a Bozeman city ordinance.
This patchwork is even more complex than it appears because the specific provisions of local ordinances vary. Some Montana city ordinances ban texting only. Others ban handheld use more broadly. Some are primary enforcement (stop authority for phone use alone), some are secondary. A driver who wants to understand the specific ordinance in a specific Montana city would need to research that city’s individual code.
However, just because the state of Montana has so far been unable to pass any legislation that bans the practice of texting while driving, there are two counties and nine cities within the state that have put their own texting while driving bans in place.
Senator Trebas’s proposal to eliminate even these local ordinances — which has not passed but reflects a genuine political position within Montana’s legislature — would reduce the distracted driving prohibition in Montana from 15 local jurisdictions to zero.
Why Montana’s No-Law Position Matters for the National Picture
Montana’s status as the only state without any statewide distracted driving restriction is significant for the national policy picture beyond Montana’s own crash statistics.
Montana and Missouri are the only US states where texting and driving are still legal for most adult drivers. Missouri has a texting ban for drivers under 21 and enacted a broader hands-free law in 2024, moving Montana even further into isolation as the sole no-law holdout.
For national traffic safety advocacy, Montana’s no-law status serves as the counterfactual for every argument that distracted driving legislation is necessary. The question “what happens when there is literally no law?” is answered by Montana’s crash data and behavioral data.
Concrete numbers are hard to find for Montana and something Cozzie is well aware of. “Very limited and probably very under reported,” Cozzie said.
Montana’s own transportation officials acknowledge that the absence of a distracted driving law produces worse data quality in addition to worse road safety outcomes: when there is no law to violate, crashes are less likely to be coded as distraction-involved by officers who may not even look for the phone evidence in a state where phone use is legal.
The underreporting problem in Montana is the same systematic distortion that NHTSA acknowledges in its national data — but amplified by the specific context of a state where the behavior is legal. An officer investigating a Montana highway crash where there is no reason to suspect a legal violation has even less motivation to document the phone evidence that would establish distraction as a factor.
Civil Liability: What Montana Law Does Allow
The absence of a Montana distracted driving law does not mean that Montana drivers who cause crashes while texting face no consequences. Civil liability applies regardless of whether the behavior violates a statute.
Efforts to introduce legislation to prohibit texting and driving in Montana have repeatedly failed, with opposition citing concerns over effectiveness and infringement on personal rights, among other reasons.
Despite the legal permission to text while driving in Montana, a driver who causes a crash while texting can be found civilly negligent for failing to operate their vehicle with reasonable care. The standard of reasonable care applies regardless of specific statutes — and a jury in a Montana civil case can find that a driver who was texting at 75 mph failed to exercise the care that a reasonable person would exercise, even though no statute prohibited the behavior.
Montana follows a modified comparative negligence standard. A plaintiff who is found to bear 51 percent or more of the fault for their own injuries is barred from recovery. For distracted driving victims who were not at fault, establishing that the other driver was texting provides strong evidence of negligence that can support recovery even without the criminal law framework that a texting ban would provide.
What This Means for Drivers in Montana
The Montana distracted driving law landscape in 2026 is simultaneously the simplest of any state — no statewide law — and the most complex for a visitor trying to stay compliant — because 15 local ordinances create a patchwork that requires specific knowledge about each city.
For Montana residents on state highways and rural roads: there is no statewide law prohibiting any form of phone use while driving. The behavior is legal under state law. It remains dangerous regardless of its legality — the crash risk from distracted driving that we have documented throughout this series applies on Montana’s rural highways exactly as it applies on Ohio’s interstates.
For visitors from other states: your home state’s law does not apply in Montana. A driver from Virginia who is accustomed to the $125 first-offense Virginia citation as the consequence for holding a phone while driving is on Montana state highways without that legal deterrent. The absence of a Montana law does not make the behavior safe.
For drivers within the 15 local ordinance jurisdictions: the specific city or county ordinance applies within those boundaries. Entering Missoula or Billings city limits means entering a jurisdiction where the local ordinance creates legal exposure that the state highway did not.
For all drivers regardless of origin: the phone-free driving standard that the behavioral and crash data consistently supports remains the safest choice regardless of what the law permits. The 424 projected Labor Day deaths we covered in our Labor Day driving safety 2026 article, the $120.32 billion annual economic cost we covered in our economic cost of distracted driving 2026 article, and the 3,208 deaths documented in the 2024 NHTSA data we covered in our distracted driving statistics 2026 article all occur under the existing patchwork of laws — including Montana’s no-law status. The data does not wait for legislation.
Montana’s specific road environment — long rural stretches at high speeds, wildlife crossings, extreme weather variability, significant distances between emergency services — makes the consequence of a distraction-involved crash potentially more severe than in a dense urban environment with immediate emergency response.
For the complete 50-state law comparison that places Montana in its unique national context, our distracted driving laws all 50 states 2026 covers every state. For the technology that makes phone-free driving automatic regardless of which state’s law applies, our hands-free while driving complete setup guide covers iPhone, Android, Bluetooth, and CarPlay.
Sources Used in This Article
All links verified working before publication.
SlashGear: This Is The Only State That Still Hasn’t Banned Texting While Driving In 2026 — SB 359 failed 2025, Chloe Worl death, Senator Trebas opposition, 2 counties 9 cities with ordinances, May 2026
LegiScan: MT SB359 2025 Regular Session Status — Died in Process May 23, 2025 official status, Democrat sponsor
BillTrack50: MT SB359 Complete Bill Text and Provisions — $75-$149 first offense, $150-$250 subsequent, 3 DMV points, hands-free exceptions
FastDemocracy: MT SB 359 Committee Vote — Senate Highways and Transportation Committee 8-0 unanimous vote February 26, 2025
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety: MT Time to Join 49 States — SB 359 advocacy, comprehensive bill provisions, April 2025
NBC Montana: Montana Remains the Last State With No Statewide Texting While Driving Ban — Sheila Cozzie MDT quote, 15 locations with bans, HB 49 2009 HB 237 2021 failed history, December 2023
The Hill: Only 1 State Doesn’t Have a Ban on Texting and Driving — Missouri 49th state August 2023, Montana now sole holdout, August 2023
Cat Country 102.9: Is Texting and Driving Legal in Montana — Legal on all state highways, city ordinances only apply within limits, Montana freedom ethos, October 2025
Murphy Law Office: Is Texting and Driving Legal in Montana — No statewide laws any form, civil liability framework despite no statutes, March 2026
Insured Better: Your Guide to Montana’s Distracted Driving Laws — Butte-Silver Bow Anaconda-Deer Lodge counties, city list, no statewide exceptions since no statewide law, December 2025
Road Law Guide: Distracted Driving Laws by State 2026 — Montana and Missouri only states, 49 states plus DC with texting bans, February 2026
NHTSA: Distracted Driving — 3,208 deaths 2024, national context
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