Florida Texting and Driving Banned

After five years, on Tuesday  Gov. Rick Scott signed into law Florida's latest attempt to crack down on texting while driving vehicles.

The bill (SB 52) bans manual texting only while driving, but allows it for drivers stopped in traffic or at traffic lights. And it's a "secondary" offense, meaning a driver would have to be pulled over for some other violation, like careless driving, to get a texting ticket. Even then, a first offense is just $30 plus court costs, rising to $60 for a second offense.

After signing the bill at a Miami high school Gov. Scott said, "As a father and a grandfather, texting while driving is something that concerns me when my loved ones are on the road,". With Scott's signature, Florida becomes the 41st state to impose some sort of ban on texting while driving.

"The 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are known as the deadliest days on the road for teenagers. We must do everything we can at the state level to keep our teenagers and everyone on our roads safe. I cannot think of a better time to officially sign this bill into law." -- Gov. Scott

But the new law is likely to prove difficult to enforce.

An amendment by the Florida House weakened enforcement by not allowing a driver's phone records to be used as evidence unless the texting ticket is from a crash that results in a death or injury.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, opposed the change but did not try to amend the bill when it was bounced back to the Senate because she had tried to get the law passed for five years and feared that sending it back to the House would cause it to fail. Rep. Doug Holder, R-Sarasota, sponsored the bill in the House, which previously had refused to consider a texting ban.

Holder said in a statement Tuesday that despite the compromise, the law "will teach our youngest drivers to put away their phones and concentrate on the road." It takes effect Oct. 1.