The Connecticut Senate has approved legislation that would add the state to the short list of states that require drivers to keep their hands off the phone.

Senators voted 32-4 June 2 to advance a bill that would ban hand-held cell phone use while driving. Talking on a phone equipped with a “hands-free” device would still be permitted for most drivers.

HB6722, which previously passed the House, now moves to Gov. M. Jodi Rell. She has indicated she will sign the bill into law, The Stamford Advocate reported.

Drivers under age 18 and school bus drivers would be banned from using any phone.

The bill would make it a secondary offense to drive while using a hand-held phone – meaning they would have to be pulled over for another violation, such as speeding, before they could be ticketed for talking on the phone. Violators would face up to a $100 fine with an exception for anyone making an emergency call.

Included in the bill is a provision that would add $100 to the fine of those who drive erratically or cause an accident because they’re engaging in activities such as drinking coffee, reading maps, eating or putting on makeup.

Connecticut is one of 37 states this year to take up legislation to tighten regulations against the use of hand-held cell phones while driving, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Currently, New York and New Jersey have the only statewide laws restricting cell phone use in vehicles.

But with cell-phone related incidents making up only a small percentage of motor vehicle accidents, government officials are questioning why this particular behavior was chosen for a law. Studies have shown that hands-free and hand-held cell phones are equally distracting.

“We’ve evaluated and come to the conclusion that hands-free use is just as risky or perhaps riskier than hand-held phones because it’s the cognitive distraction that can compromise driving” Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, recently told The New York Times.

Tyson said research within his agency and outside, along with driving simulations, found that it was the talking on a cell phone while driving – not holding it – that was distracting, and that therefore cell phones should be used only in emergencies.

If signed into law in Connecticut, the cell-phone restriction would take effect Oct. 1.