Texting while driving can now get you pulled over in Florida

WEST BROWARD, FLA. (WSVN) - Beginning Monday, texting while driving can get you pulled over in Florida.

Previously, drivers had to commit another infraction to get cited for using a cellphone behind the wheel.

The act is now a primary offense, meaning you can get pulled over just for texting while driving.

“A police officer, a trooper or a sheriff, local police officer can stop you on a primary offense just for using your device,” said Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alvaro Feola.

The bill was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May.

“You’re taking your eyes off the roadway. You’re taking your hands off the steering wheel, and you’re not paying attention,” said Feola.

Florida State Rep. Emily Slosberg filed the bill after a distracted driver changed the course of her life.

Back in 1996, she was injured in a wreck on Palmetto Park Road in Boca Raton. Her twin sister, Dori, and four other teens were killed.

The lawmaker has since dedicated her life and career to making roads safer in Florida.

For years, she’s introduced and advocated for legislation that bans texting while driving.

“I started filing every single session since I was elected,” said Slosberg. “I filed it as a regular bill. I filed it as a local bill. I just kept filing it. I filed it as an amendment, as an amendment to an amendment. I just tried to keep sneaking it in there every which way I could.”

“Finally, we got a no-texting law, and it’s going to be hands-free in school zones and construction zones,” said her father, Irving Slosberg. “It’s victory on the roads.”

The bill specifically outlaws texting and typing. Using your phone’s GPS, holding your phone up to your ear during a call and checking alerts behind the wheel are still allowed, however. Drivers may also text while stopped at a red light but must put the phone away once it’s green.

“It will take a while, even for myself,” said former Florida State Sen. Maria Sachs. “Texting and driving is a habit, so in order to stop that habit, we have to use other things, hands-free.”

Beginning in October, the only time you are not permitted to touch your phone for any reason is when passing through a construction and school zone.

For now, officers will be issuing warnings through the end of the year, with the exception in extreme cases.

Citations begin January 2020.

“We can make that person aware and educate them of the dangers that come with distracted driving, and we can save a life,” said Feola. “That, to us, is a job well done.”

A first offense will be punishable by a $30 fine. A second offense within five years of the first infraction will cost $60, and three points will be added to the driver’s license. Court costs and fees also would apply.

Police departments across the state have been using social media to remind drivers of the new law.

Five crosses now stand on the side of the road in memory of the victims of the 1996 crash that killed Emily’s sister.

“I lost my twin sister, and I was almost killed in a crash, and I did this because I don’t want another person to go through what I went through,” she said.

A police officer cannot ask to see a driver’s cellphone unless they were involved in some sort of crash.

Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.