Cellphone use while driving ban in Wisconsin coming slowly

Fines now set up for those
using in construction zones

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin is gradually taking steps to regulate cellphone use while driving, but an all-out ban is still a year or more away in the state Legislature. 

A a bill was approved this month imposing a $20-40 fine for drivers talking on handheld cellphones in construction zones with the fine upping to $50-100 for subsequent offenses within a year. 

The Republican-controlled Legislature, meanwhile, ignored a Democratic proposal for a broader ban on the practice, leaving it to die as the session wrapped up. 

Marshfield Republican Rep. John Spiros, a lead sponsor on the construction zone bill, believes the state will eventually join the 14 other states that prohibit using handheld cellphones while driving.