• 31
  • October
    2011

Florida remains one of the few states to still allow cellphone use while driving. However, various cities are taking action and banning texting while driving. According to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), drivers who use handheld devices while driving are four times more likely to get in a Boca Raton car accident.

According to the IIHS, composing, sending and reading text messages compromises the drivers' control of the vehicle. A 2010 crash statistics report from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles found that careless driving contributed to more than 23,000 accidents. Of those accidents, 40 percent resulted in injury and 19 percent were fatal.

Port St. Lucie Texting Ban

While distracted driving legislation has stalled in Tallahassee, Port St. Lucie recently adopted a city texting ban. The Mayor of Port St. Lucie, JoAnn Faiella, hopes statewide legislation will pass in the next legislative session to promote uniformity.

The Port St. Lucie ban is designed to reduce the number of injuries and death that result from car accidents. Currently, the police department will not specifically cite drivers if they are caught texting and driving. However, if a crash investigation shows that a driver was texting, he or she will receive a citation for careless driving.

The police department is using an educational campaign to get out the message that texting while driving is dangerous. If a statewide ban on texting is passed then drivers would be cited if they are observed texting and driving on city roads.

Statewide Legislation Proposed for 2012 Session

A statewide ban on texting while driving failed to pass last legislative term. But four distracted driving bills have already been filed for the 2012 legislative session. One of the proposed bills targets texting, e-mailing and instant messaging while driving. However, police would only be able to pull over violators and issue a citation, if they had been stopped for a separate driving offense.

Many in Boca Raton support the proposed bill, even though many residents admit to texting behind the wheel. Florida personal injury attorneys hope that educational campaigns combined with a texting ban will continue to reduce the accidents caused by texting and driving.

Source: Port St. Lucie Supports Florida ban on Texting while Driving