A state-wide texting while driving ban goes into effect today.

It's in an effort to curb distracted driving.

Action News Reporter Natalie Jenereski explains the law, and how much it will cost you if you're caught texting behind the wheel.

New York State joins half the nation in forcing you to put down your cell phone while driving.

But they're not talking about phone calls..

It's texting that's the new no-no.

"I like multi-tasking, and I get pretty bored in a car, but really, texting while you're driving is pretty dangerous, so I really agree it's a good idea," said Robin Kingsmill of Toronto, Canada.

"You shouldn't do it anyway, it is a distraction. But I don't know how far they're going to go as far as when they catch you," says Scott Shephard of Chenango Forks.

The new state law is now in effect.

But texting alone won't get you a ticket.

Instead, you must be pulled over for a primary offense.

"You have to have another violation. You can observe somebody texting, but you'd have to have another violation in order to stop the vehicle," says Broome County Patrol Sergeant, Thomas Williams.

These include things like speeding and rolling through stopping signs.

The texting ticket will add another 150-dollars on to that fine.

But some drivers are asking what they'll have to give up next.

Shephard says, "Other things distract people besides texting. If it starts with texting, what's it going to be next that you can't do in your car?"

"This is just another one that we're adding to the list of things that people do in their cars when really they should just be focused on the road and driving," says Tanja Fischer of Toronto, Canada.

"People are still going to do it, it's just a matter of once they get hit a couple of times, once they get stopped and get tickets, and it becomes economically stressful for them they'll probably stop it," says Williams.

So text your friends before you get behind the wheel,

Because the dangerous driving distraction is now a costly one.

In the Town of Dickinson, Natalie Jenereski, WBNG-TV Action News.

New York is the 26th state to limit the use of cell phones while driving.

It comes on heels of Broome and Tioga County passing local laws outlawing the measure.

The law doesn't include ipods or GPS's.