Texting and Driving Laws in Florida

Throughout this essay I will dig a little deeper on texting and driving laws in the state of beautiful Florida. The province of Florida helps counteract occupied driving, they did this such thing by passing a law just as a variety of other states have done recently. In a way, I believe that the state of Florida is doing their very best to counteract texting while driving with the law they currently have implemented; however, I also believe that they could strengthen the current law to crack down on it a lot more.

Almost everyone in the world is always moving around and is on the go which is making the roadways busier and busier every day of the year. It’s not how it used to be back in the olden days where a driver could get distracted by simply changing a radio station. In the modern-day world, we now have a distraction of texting while operating a motor vehicle which is extremely dangerous and takes lives every day. With this issue being serious, the state of Florida figured that they might have an issue on their hands with the number of travelers the Florida road system experience’s annually, especially with all of the tourists. Florida went along with over 37 other states and passed a new law in which made texting while driving illegal however, there was a catch; the driver must be making two offenses to get penalized for texting and driving which means a driver cannot simply get pulled over for only texting and driving which makes this law sort of useless in a way.

During the year of 2013, the beautiful sunshine state of Florida decided to pass a new law that states texting while driving is now abolished and cannot happen anymore. Worried citizens are still frightful as the law isn’t really a law. A driver cannot be pulled over for simply texting and driving, a driver must be completing another crime to receive a punishment for this act of texting and driving in which many disagree with strongly. Questions begin to rise with civilians asking how effective this law really is beginning to worry that this new law won’t do its job and the youth aged group of citizens won’t take heart to this law resulting in more deadly accidents. With worried Floridians on the rise, most citizens now begin to push for a law in which holds more power, where a driver can simply get pulled over and punished for texting and driving, without having to commit a second offense at the same time.

Florida is attempting to pass this law right now with a little more power however as of now you cannot be pulled over unless you are committing a second offense on top of texting and driving. Currently, as stated above, the Florida texting while driving law is now a secondary offense, in which many are wanting to change to a primary offense. Currently, texting while driving is a primary offense in over 40 states. With the stricter law attempting to be passed, the House voted 112-2 for the legislation to pass this new law however with all of the opposition it is very unclear whether or not this will actually make it to Governor Rick Scott. With all of the opposition within the house, a senate republican decided to block this new law from being passed in that chamber. This particular senator is concerned about giving the police extra power in which they do not need to with-hold according to him.

Overall, I believe that the state of beautiful Florida has somewhat strict texting while driving laws however I also believe that they could become a part of the other 40 states and make this a primary law. A primary law in the state of Florida for texting while driving would allow for the police force to easily halt this issue on the roadways and decrease the number of tragedies that happen every single year. Passing this law would show drivers that the state of Florida does not play around and would likely scare drivers from committing the act of texting while driving while in the state in which will end the worry for others on the roadways and make the roadways much safer.

Works Cited

1. Beninate, Renee, and Jennifer Cole. “Why Florida's Texting and Driving Law Might Be Ineffective.” WUFT News, WUFT News, 30 Nov. -1, www.wuft.org/news/2013/09/05/why-floridas-texting-and-driving-law-might-be-in-effective/.
2. [email protected]. “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” NHTSA, NHTSA, 5 Nov. 2018,
3. www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/distracted-driving.