---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOBILE TELEPHONE USE (Prohibits the use of a non-hands-free personal wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle, except for public safety personnel or in an emergency situation, and would provide for monetary fines for violations.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOBILE TELEPHONE USE (Prohibits the use of a non-hands-free personal wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle, except for public safety personnel or in an emergency situation, and would provide for monetary fines for violations.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 5182"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5182 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carson", "Fogarty", "Maldonado", "Regunberg", "Tanzi"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 14
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-01-19"
last_action: "2017-09-27"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/5c846f4b-8519-416d-9f59-a63d927689b0"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "ee16cb482dc4e55c48900eaa475227ca4e9bc5205ace9e97bfa8a90bbb6dbfa2"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5182 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO MOTOR AND OTHER VEHICLES -- MOBILE TELEPHONE USE (Prohibits the use of a non-hands-free personal wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle, except for public safety personnel or in an emergency situation, and would provide for monetary fines for violations.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5182** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5182.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **56–8** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Carson — primary (person)
- Fogarty — primary (person)
- Maldonado — primary (person)
- Regunberg — primary (person)
- Tanzi — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-01-19** 01/19/2017 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-02-02** 02/02/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
- **2017-02-03** 02/03/2017 Meeting postponed (02/07/2017)
- **2017-03-03** 03/03/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/08/2017)
- **2017-03-08** 03/08/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-06-16** 06/16/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/20/2017)
- **2017-06-20** 06/20/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 Placed on House Calendar (06/28/2017)
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 House read and passed `passage`
- **2017-06-30** 06/30/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/30/2017)
- **2017-09-14** 09/14/2017 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (09/19/2017)
- **2017-09-19** 09/19/2017 Senate passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-09-25** 09/25/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-09-27** 09/27/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/5c846f4b-8519-416d-9f59-a63d927689b0`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).