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Lawmakers Approve Texting While Driving Ban, Awaiting Scott’s Signature
May 3, 2013
Texting while driving will be illegal in Florida if Gov. Rick Scott signs legislation sent to him by the Senate on Thursday after a years-long effort to join most other states in outlawing it.
The Senate voted 39-1 in favor of a bill (SB 52) that makes it illegal to read or type texts or emails while actually driving, though it would remain legal to do it while stopped, such as at a red light.
Scott hasn’t said whether he’ll sign the bill.
Under the measure as passed, only drivers who are pulled over for something else, such as careless driving or speeding, and then are determined to have been texting while driving, could be cited. And in most cases, police and prosecutors won’t be able to seek the driver’s cell phone records to prove it. Under an amendment added to the bill this week by the House, records could only be sought if there were an injury or death in a crash.
That provision weakened the bill, but the measure’s Senate sponsor said the fight to get a texting ban has been long and so it was better to go along with that than not pass the bill – and she said the measure still could reduce the dangerous practice, particularly among kids.
“This bill is still a good bill, it still will allow parents today to say to their kids ‘Don’t text, it’s against the law,’” said Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, who has pushed for the ban unsuccessfully for years.
On the second-to-last day of the legislative session, there was a risk that stripping the House provision on cell phone records and sending it back to the House would keep the bill from passing.
If Scott were to approve, Florida would become one of the last states to have any kind of restriction on texting while driving.
The measure has an exception for use of a GPS device, or for reporting criminal behavior. The bill also allows talk-to-text technology to be used, as long as the driver isn’t typing or reading the message. In addition to texting, the bill includes reading or writing emails, or other messages.
By The News Service of Florida
Comments
6 Responses to “Lawmakers Approve Texting While Driving Ban, Awaiting Scott’s Signature”
Another useless bit of legislation. A LEO sitting on the side of the road, sees someone texting while driving but the LEO can’t do anything until the person causes an accident, runs a red light, crosses the line or whatever. What a great deterrent! Of course, we deserve laws like this since we elected the morons to go to Tallahassee to represent us.
Reckless driving laws already exist, so i dont see the extra need for this
39-1. Who was the lone knucklehead who voted against a life-saving piece of legislation? NOTHING is so important that you must put yourself and other motorists at risk. I was driving home from work to day, and the lady in the lane next to me came close to hitting me as she was typing away, oblivious to the rest of the sane world. I agree though, that passing this legislation is one thing, having penalties stiff enough to make it effective is another.
Texting while driving is just stupid looking for a place to happen. Not only is texting dangerous while driving it is also dangerous for an entirely different reason, people are loosing the ability to verbally communicate and also to spell correctly. Example: lol, so very tired of seeing this on everything, including e-mails. I still have a basic cell phone which you open and say hello and close after you say goodby. Nothing wrong with it. I don’t talk on the phone while driving, if a call comes through I wait until I reach my destination or while traveling a rest stop. Nothing is so important that it cannot wait until safe to talk. While I am on a roll, enough already with the phone glued to your ear while checking out in a store. This is a prime example of rude behavior, stop talking take care of paying the cashier and leave.
Exactly Woody, this law has no teeth, just like Alabama’s law…you are not going to deter anyone from this texting/reading text while driving menace… if the lawmakers cared the penalties for one thing would be severe even for first offenses, and this offense taking a back seat to some other offense as the reason for stopping someone is ridiculous…When I’m in traffic it is easy to tell when someone is texting…THEY ARE NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE…DUH!… POLITICIANS, for once, just once, earn your @#!@ paycheck and do something that is going to make a worthwhile difference like saving lives, and punishing all these selfserving idiots severely that text/read text while operating a motor vehicle…
When a person dies in a crash from another texting, whats the point trying to prove they where texting? A person is dead for crying out loud. You havent accomplished nothing after the person is dead. 3 to 5 seconds and its over, weather you are answering your phone dialing a # or txting. Not a strict enough policy for me.