New Texting-While-Driving Law Goes into Effect in Florida

FLORIDA – According to a news report posted online at abcactionnews.com, a new texting-while-driving law has gone into effect in the state of Florida. The law makes texting and driving a primary offense, but some people are dubious that it will result in a meaningful reduction of accidents caused by distracted driving.*

Prior to the bill’s passing, texting and driving was considered a secondary offense in Florida. This meant that in order to cite a driver for texting, an officer had to first pull the driver over for something else. Now, drivers who are caught texting will be pulled over by officers for that offense alone. 

Penalties for violating the law include a $30 fine for the first offense and a $60 fine plus three points on the driver’s license for the second offense taking place within five years. In October, the law will be followed by a hands-free law applicable to school zones and construction zones. In these zones, drivers will not be able to hold their phones at all. 

Some Florida residents and safety advocates think that the new law and its supplement coming in October are not enough to reduce distracted driving accidents in the state. Drivers will likely not be truthful about what they were doing on their phones, they say, and officers might have a hard time telling whether someone is texting before initiating a stop. 

Other states that have passed primary offense laws for texting and driving have had minimal success, according to the news report. For instance, Iowa passed this kind of law two years ago, and its rate of distracted driving crashes has not declined much. Law enforcement officers in that state are pushing for a total hands-free policy, like the one that went into effect in Georgia last year. 

Accident News is a driver safety and education initiative from Montlick & Associates, designed to help people better understand and thereby avoid common accident causes.  To learn more about our injury prevention programs, including iridesafe.com -click here. We hope you are never in an accident, but if you or family member are injured, call Montlick & Associates 24/7 for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or use our live chat at Montlick.com.

Source:https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/floridas-new-texting-and-driving-law-takes-effect-states-with-similar-policy-see-limited-results