House panel approves texting-while-driving bill
It allows officers to stop vehicles if they see drivers texting.
TALLAHASSEE — With support from the House speaker, a proposal to make texting while driving a primary offense in Florida received unanimous support Tuesday from a House panel as the 2018 legislative session opened.
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Subcommittee approved the measure (HB 33), which would allow law-enforcement officers to stop vehicles when they see motorists texting behind the wheel.
“This will prevent the actual behavior of texting behind the wheel,” said Rep. Emily Slosberg, a Boca Raton Democrat who is co-sponsoring the bill with Rep. Jackie Toledo, R-Tampa. “Because right now, it’s completely unenforceable as a secondary offense.”
Now, motorists can only be charged with texting and driving if they are stopped for other offenses, such as speeding.
The bill, which must still go before two more panels, advanced despite concern by St. Petersburg Democrat Wengay Newton — a committee member who voted for the bill — who said the change from a secondary to primary offense could be used to racially profile African-Americans.
“I know the inference of having the safety,” Newton, who is black, said. “I get it. But at the same time, when you talk about how it affects everybody in the state ... there are a lot that look like me that I want to ensure get a fair shake.”
Also, some supporters of the texting-while-driving ban would prefer lawmakers require motorists to be “hands free” from electronic devices. They also contend the House proposal could prevent law enforcement from inspecting electronic devices if drivers simply claim they were using allowed GPS rather than typing messages.
“There’s just too many loopholes in it,” said Demetrius Branca, whose 19-yearold son Anthony Branca was killed by a distracted driver just more than three years ago in Tallahassee. “In my mind, distracted driving, the core of it, is no different than drunk driving. You are doing something that you know to be dangerous, and you are endangering everyone around you.”
The House bill would allow motorists to text while in stationary vehicles and would require law-enforcement officers to inform drivers they have a right to decline a search of the wireless devices. The measure also would prohibit officers from confiscating handheld devices without warrants.
Slosberg said after the meeting she’d prefer a “hands free” requirement and for charges to be criminal, but she said the bill had been negotiated and needs to be viewed as “a step in the right direction.”