Pasadena Police Will Stop Drivers Holding Phones This Friday

The phone on your dashboard mount is legal. The one in your hand is not — even if all you are doing is glancing at the map.

The Pasadena Police Department is reminding drivers of that distinction the hard way.

On Friday, February 20, officers will conduct an enforcement operation targeting drivers suspected of violating California’s hands-free cell phone law, according to a PPD press release issued Tuesday. The operation is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The timing matters. In 2025, a California Court of Appeal ruled that holding a phone for any purpose while driving — including checking GPS navigation — violates state law. The ruling, in People v. Porter, closed a loophole that some drivers had relied on, believing GPS use did not constitute a hands-free violation. It does.

Under California Vehicle Code §23123, drivers cannot hold a phone or any electronic communications device while operating a vehicle. That includes talking, texting, browsing an app — or navigating.

The prohibition applies even when stopped at a red light.

A first violation carries a base fine, with total costs after fees reaching approximately $160. A second violation within 36 months adds a point to the driver’s record.

The stakes are not just financial. In 2023, 158 people were killed in distracted driving crashes across California, according to SafeTREC, the UC Berkeley traffic safety research center. Nationally, the figure was 3,275, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Los Angeles County records more distracted driving fatalities than any other county in the state, according to SafeTREC data.

“A driver’s focus should be on the road, not their phone,” Lieutenant Anthony Russo said in a statement. “That text, phone call, email or social media post is not worth the risk to yourself and other people on the road.”

The department advises drivers who need to make a call or check directions to pull over to a safe parking spot first. Before driving, police say, silence the phone or put it somewhere unreachable.

Friday’s operation is part of an ongoing, year-round enforcement effort. PPD has conducted similar operations in April 2024 and April 2025, each funded through the same state-federal grant stream that runs through September 2026.

Reading a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for roughly five seconds — the equivalent, at highway speed, of driving the length of a football field without looking up. In that time, on any Pasadena street, anything can happen.