Ohio’s statewide texting-while-driving ban takes effect today, but drivers won’t be cited during the first six months.

Police will issue warnings to drivers caught texting until March 1. After that, adult drivers can be charged with a misdemeanor and fined $150.

The law is tougher on teen drivers. Those under age 18 are barred from using any kind of electronic communication device while behind the wheel of a car or truck, regardless whether its moving or stopped. First-time offenders face a $150 fine and a 60-day license suspension after the warning period ends. Repeat offenders under 18 can be fined $300 and have their license taken away for a year.

Another distinction is that adults must be seen violating another law before they can be stopped and cited for texting while driving. It’s the opposite for minors. Police can pull them over just for using an electronic device while driving.

Traffic safety advocates welcomed the new law.

“The fact remains, the law is for everyone. Distracted driving is a very serious cause of accidents itself. I believe the intent of the law is to help limit distractions while people are driving. From that standpoint, anything that reduces distractions for drivers should limit the number of crashes, too,” said Monte Mayer of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.

Cindy Antrican, spokeswoman for the Miami Valley AAA, said vehicles at highway speeds can travel the length of a footfall field in the time a driver simply looks down at a cell phone or iPod. Add the time needed to actually read and take in a text message, a vehicle may go further.

Antrican compared that moment to driving while blindfolded.

Gabrielle Shirmer, a 16-year-old Hamilton High School junior, said the first day that she got her license, her parents texted her just to see if she’d text while she was driving. She didn’t.

“I think that it definitely needs to be enforced. A lot of people do text and drive, and it’s dangerous. No, I don’t text and drive, my parents would probably kill me,” she said.

AAA supported making texting while driving a primary offense for both minors and adults, Antrican said, “but this is a start.”

A recent survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that 35 percent of drivers admitted to texting behind the wheel, and almost half of motorists age 18 to 24 admitted to it. In 2010, more than 3,000 people in the U.S. died in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admininstration.

But the new law has its detractors, too. State Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, did not support it.

“It’s just another government (rule) looking over our shoulder, trying to be responsible for us, when we should be responsible for our own actions.”

Buchy hopes the law will serve as a deterrent, but he doubts it will tear younger drivers from their devices, even on the road. “I can tell you from experience that with that age bracket, it’s hard to get them away from the text. That’s going to be difficult to enforce.”

Ohio is the 39th state to ban texting while driving, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.