Florida lawmakers inched closer to a statewide ban on texting while driving and may finally be joining the 39 other states who have already banned it.
Florida may finally be joining the 39 other states with bans on texting while driving. Florida lawmakers inched closer to a statewide ban on texting and driving last Wednesday, when the House Economics Affair Committee cleared bill HB 13 by a 16-1 vote to make texting while driving a secondary offense. The House Bill is scheduled to go to the floor while SB 52, a companion bill, moves towards the full Senate.
HB 13 includes a ban on the manual typing of texts and reading of texts while driving. The talk-to-text feature on smart phones is excluded from the language of the bill, and texting at a stop or red light would still be legal. In this version of the bill, police officers must s
top drivers for a primary offense such as speeding or running a red light in order to cite drivers for texting while driving.
If the bill is passed, a driver’s first violation incurs a $30 fine and court costs. Subsequent violations within five years of the first offense add three points to the driver’s license and a $60 fine. Six points are added if texting causes a crash. Driving in a school zone would incur additional penalties.
All forms of distractions while driving vehicles have potential deleterious effects on drivers, passengers, and pedestrians, but texting by far is the worst because it requires one’s manual, visual, and mental attention simultaneously. In the Governor’s Highway Safety Association’s 2011 report, “Distracted Driving: What Research Shows and What States Can Do,” at least one driver was reported as distracted in 15 % to 30% of crashes. Texting was found to increase the risk of crashing more than cell phone use; in fact, text messaging has been found to increase the risk of crashing 23 times when compared to driving without distractions.
Other disturbing statistics that support a ban for driving while texting include:
• 40% of teens have been in a car when a driver used a cell phone in a dangerous manner
• 26% of teens of driving age have texted while driving
• 48% of all teens ages 12 to 17 have experienced drivers texting behind the wheel
• Text messaging distracts a driver’s attention from the road an average of 4.6 seconds; if driving at 55mph, that’s the equivalent of driving the length of a football field blind
• Driving while using a cell phone reduces brain activity associated with driving by 37%
