LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Making a call or sending text messages with a hand-held cell phone while behind the wheel would be a crime in Arkansas under a legislator's proposal.

Representative Ray Kidd of Jonesboro filed a bill yesterday that would prohibit the use of hand-held cell phones while driving. The proposal would allow the use of hands-free cell phones and would exempt law enforcement, firefighters and emergency workers who are performing their jobs.

Arkansas House members last year rejected a bill that would have prohibited drivers under 18 from using a cell phone while behind the wheel of a moving vehicle. The measure had previously won Senate approval.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)