Online Auto Insurance: Texting while Driving Penalties Harshest in Alaska, Weakest in Virginia

 What could set you back more than $10,000, put you in prison for up to a year, cause you to drive the length of an entire football field basically blindfolded, and increase your insurance rates by around 10 percent in some states? Using your phone to read and send text messages while driving.

According to the study, the following states had the harshest and weakest maximum penalties for a first offense:

Harshest:

1. Alaska
2. Utah
3. Maine
4. Wisconsin
5. New York

Weakest:

1. Virginia
2. Iowa
3. Indiana
4. Delaware
5. Pennsylvania

The harshest statewide ban was in Alaska, where the maximum penalty for a first offense is a $10,000 fine and a one-year prison sentence if the incident wasn't related to an accident with injuries. The weakest ban was in Virginia, where a fine for texting while driving is currently only $20.