El Mirage, a Phoenix suburb located in the northwest Valley has become the latest to put a texting ban in place for drivers during the holiday season. 

The ban will go into effect Dec. 21 and will limit drivers to strictly using hands-free communication in their cars, with violators to be fined up to $250 for disobeying the rule.

Phoenix, Tempe, Sunrise, Flagstaff and Tucson also have rules in place prohibiting people from texting while behind the wheel. At this time, there is no statewide law against texting while driving.

The Maricopa County city of El Mirage is approximately 30 miles from downtown Phoenix.

In 2015, Tempe officials passed a distracted-driver ordinance where those that text and drive will only be cited if they are also driving erratically. The parameters of the ordinance include any mobile device that could distract a driver from focusing on the road. Violators began being ticketed by police at the start of 2016. 

In September of this year, Surprise became more proactive when it comes to catching drivers that were also caught texting. 

“By and large our goal is just to educate during those first 30 days,” said Police Sgt. Tim Klarkowski.