Created: 11/29/2009 12:59:20 PM 
Greensboro, NC -- Starting Tuesday, drivers in North Carolina will be hit with a fine if caught texting or e-mailing while driving.
The state's new ban on texting while driving takes effect Dec. 1. It makes it illegal to text or read any e-mail or text message while driving.
To read the law, click here.
Violations could cost drivers $100 in fines.
The law applies to the driver while the vehicle is moving, not when stopped or parked.
"I think it's appropriate. I mean, people get in enough accidents already talking and driving. Texting and driving? You've got at least one, maybe both hands off the wheel. There's a good chance you won't see what's happening. You don't have a lot of reaction time," said Abraham Wesley, a North Carolina driver.
It is still legal to use a cell phone to dial a phone number. Trooper J.R. Zachary said he will likely still be able to tell if someone is using a phone to text based on how long they've got their fingers on the phone.
"If I feel confident that you're texting somebody while driving, I can stop you and I'll go ahead and charge you accordingly and go ahead and subpoena records, that way it will show the date and the time that you actually texted, which will correlate with the citation," he said.
The fines are higher for school bus drivers. Police and other safety officials are exempt.
More than a dozen other states already ban texting while driving.
To see what cell-phone related laws other states have in place, click here.
WFMY News 2/Associated Press
