• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Lawmakers Again Float Bill To Make Texting While Driving a Primary Offense; Other Distractions Spared

March 26, 2019 | FlaglerLive | Leave a Comment

texting driving
Not cool. (Andy Smith)

An effort to put more teeth into Florida’s ban on texting while driving continued its Senate journey Monday, after lawmakers stripped out proposals that could have allowed police to pull over motorists for potential distractions such as talking on cell phones, eating hamburgers or self-grooming.


The changes to the Senate bill (SB 76) put the proposal closer to a House measure (HB 107), which will make its first appearance of the legislative session on Tuesday.

Rep. Jackie Toledo, a Tampa Republican sponsoring the House proposal with Rep. Emily Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, said she doesn’t anticipate trouble for the measure, which received House support a year ago.

“This is the bill that was passed last year in the House, exactly as it was passed, so we had bipartisan support, 112 members supported the bill,” Toledo said.

The Senate version, which was approved by the Judiciary Committee, would shift texting while driving from a “secondary” offense to a “primary” offense. Currently, police can only cite motorists for texting if they are pulled over for other reasons. By making it a primary offense, police could pull over motorists for texting behind the wheel.

However, senators removed from the bill language that would have broadly defined distractions to include reading, writing, grooming, applying beauty products or interactions with pets or unsecured cargo. Also eliminated was a proposal that would have banned talking on cell phones that are not “hands free.”

Senate Judiciary Chairman David Simmons, an Altamonte Springs Republican who offered the amendment that limited the listed distractions, said the change was in reaction to questions about law enforcement potentially using the wider definition to conduct stops involving racial profiling.

“If you’re on a phone, or you are eating a hamburger, or drinking a cola, or listening to your significant other yell at you, or if you are singing with too much gesticulation, the fact of it is that each one of those would be circumstances that would be distracted driving that would permit a law enforcement officer to go ahead and … certainly stop you,” Simmons said.

The ban on texting and driving as a secondary offense was approved in 2013 but has faced criticism from traffic-safety advocates who say it should be a primary offense.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported 1,671 citations issued in the state last year, of which 39 were for repeat offenders.

While the House last year passed a measure to make texting while driving a primary offense, the measure failed to advance in the Senate amid concerns about issues such as racial profiling. This year’s Senate proposal, sponsored by Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, has been approved by three committees.

The House bill goes before the Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee on Tuesday.

Last year, then-House Speaker Richard Corcoran, now the state’s education commissioner, publicly announced his support for the measure, saying he had become convinced by statistics showing the dangers of texting while driving, particularly for younger drivers.

House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, is “supportive of distracted driving legislation,” Oliva spokesman Fred Piccolo said on Monday.

Toledo anticipates Oliva’s support for the current proposal.

“From what I understood he preferred the distracted driving bill, all of the distractions, but this is a good step in the right direction,” Toledo said.

The Senate proposal would lead to a public-awareness campaign, with warnings being handed out to violators from Oct. 1 through the end of the year, at which time citations would start to be issued.

Users’ billing records for wireless devices would be admissible as evidence only when the drivers are involved in crashes involving death or serious bodily injury. First-time offenders could, if eligible, get their charges dismissed by taking a distracted driving program.

–Jim Turner, News Service of Florida

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents
  • grand living realty

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Pierre Tristam on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • blerbfamilyfive on Why Will Furry Is Demolishing the Flagler Youth Orchestra
  • We believe the girl on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • DAVE on Flagler Pride Fest Is On Despite Hostile Climate, Drag Show Included, With a Few Cautionary Tucks
  • Blame Game on No, Flagler Beach Isn’t Asking for Money. It’s Asking for Cooperation from County and Cities.
  • Laurel on Behind the Divorce, a Bitter, Threat-Ridden Clash Between Waste Pro and Palm Coast Over Recycling Bins
  • Deborah Coffey on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later
  • Flatsflyer on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later
  • Greg on No, Flagler Beach Isn’t Asking for Money. It’s Asking for Cooperation from County and Cities.
  • Bailey’s Mom on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later
  • jake on Flagler Pride Fest Is On Despite Hostile Climate, Drag Show Included, With a Few Cautionary Tucks
  • Dennis Clark on No, Flagler Beach Isn’t Asking for Money. It’s Asking for Cooperation from County and Cities.
  • Bryan on “A Fitting Conclusion”: Family Speaks of Pilot Ray Miller’s Life of Adventure Before Crash
  • Ray W. on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • Ray W. on The Hung Jury Got It Right in the Monserrate Teron Trial
  • Dee on Wadsworth Elementary’s Paul Peacock Is Told He’s Done in Flagler Schools; New Principal To Be Named Later

Log in