Florida Legislature to Consider Ban on Texting

In hopes of preventing deadly car accidents, the Florida legislature is going to reconsider passing a law which would ban drivers from texting or reading emails. The proposed legislation would classify texting as a secondary violation, only allow a police officer to issue a citation to a driver if the officer pulled them over for another violation, such as speeding. The proposed law would not prevent drivers from using their nav systems or from using hands free software.

If passed, the law would follow the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation to halt cell phone use while operating a vehicle. The goal of the NTSB’s recommendations is to reduce distracted driving. Such a reduction would hopefully diminish the more than four thousand wrongful deaths which occur on roadways each year due to distracted drivers. Sadly, Florida is currently only 1 of 5 states which have no restriction on texting while operating a motor vehicle.

As personal injury attorneys helping accident victims throughout Florida, we can only hope that our legislature passes this common sense measure, which has, in the past, been opposed by legislators with misguided intentions. Given the increase in texting, particularly by younger less experienced drivers, any legislative action to make our roadways safer is welcomed.