Here I am going to build a state by state summary with links to official pages where possible.  This is mainly geared towards handheld radio use while driving - I will attempt to include not jusy ham radio but CB and GMRS as well 

 

State	Allowed when Driving	Links to documentation
Alabama	Gray area, see below  - not a "telecom device"	Alabama code on Findlaw
Alaska
Arizona	Amateur and CB radio exempt	https://www.azdps.gov/handsfree
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York	Gray area - has been defended in court	NY VTL on ELaws
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
Washington DC
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming

 

Regarding the states that have regulations for "telecommunication devices"  This is going to be a bit of a generalization and please look at the state code and make the call for yourself.  SOme stated regulate devices by function - for example if your handheld device that can write, send, or read text from a handheld device - so in theory a radio that can get APRS messages, for example, would by the letter of the law be restricted.  Use your judgement..  My assumption would be that this would be a non issue, unless you were clearly distracted by your radio - in which case they aren't going to need a handsfree law to charge you with something.

 

Have details on your state? Submit to statelaw -at- mas321.com