---
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: "SB 175"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 175 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cellular Telephones", "Telephone", "Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Conley", "Coyne", "Lombardi", "Lombardo", "Sosnowski"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 18
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2017-02-01"
last_action: "2017-07-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/fc81433d-b899-43c5-8eb5-e554251ed750"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "d63cffc88589a4b95e4ede3cb1e8cc7d78d0ac3f92de9c0a2a3f6cb35872f59e"
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 SB 175 (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. **175 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/SenateText17/S0175A.pdf)

## Votes

- In Concurrence — **35–0** (pass) · legislature
- PASSAGE — **68–0** (pass) · legislature
- Passage — **33–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Conley — primary (person)
- Coyne — primary (person)
- Lombardi — primary (person)
- Lombardo — primary (person)
- Sosnowski — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2017-02-01** 02/01/2017 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-21** 03/21/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
- **2017-03-22** 03/22/2017 Meeting postponed (03/23/2017)
- **2017-03-24** 03/24/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (03/28/2017)
- **2017-03-28** 03/28/2017 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-05** 04/05/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (04/11/2017)
- **2017-04-11** 04/11/2017 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2017-04-12** 04/12/2017 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-24** 06/24/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/27/2017)
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 Scheduled for reconsideration (06/28/2017)
- **2017-06-28** 06/28/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Placed on the House Consent Calendar (06/29/2017)
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2017-06-30** 06/30/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/30/2017)
- **2017-06-30** 06/30/2017 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-07-05** 07/05/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-07-10** 07/10/2017 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/fc81433d-b899-43c5-8eb5-e554251ed750`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).