Slosberg pushes for texting bill
Texting while driving measure risks stalling in state Senate today.
A tougher texting while driving bill risks stalling in the state Senate today, despite pleas from a Palm Beach County-based representative to “do the right thing.”
Florida is one of four states that don’t make texting while driving a primary offense, meaning police cannot cite it unless they pull someone over for another infraction like speeding. It carries a $30 fine, plus varying add-on fees.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, has expressed concerns about SB 90, which would make texting a primary offense. Among those reported concerns: It could lead to more encounters between police and motorists and raise privacy concerns related to seeking proof of texting on a phone.
“I implore Sen. Bradley to do the right thing and bring SB 90 up for a vote in the Appropriations Committee as soon as possible,” said co-sponsor Rep. Emily Slosberg, D-Delray Beach. “I also urge all Floridians to contact their local legislators and urge them to support HB 33 and SB 90.”
The Palm Beach Post found crash reports listing distracted driving rose 10 percent in Florida in 2016, and injuries associated specifically with texting rose 45 percent in Palm Beach County.
“They just don’t get it,” Steve Augello, whose daughter died in a Tampa-area accident he believes was caused by another driver’s texting, said last year. “It drives me crazy the law is so weak.”
The House version, HB 33, is expected to reach the floor of that chamber Wednesday and has the House Speaker’s support.
But the bill’s last scheduled chance to advance through regular Senate committee channels comes today, meaning it is likely near death for the 2018 session without prompt action.
Bradley, a former prosecutor, said a tougher law brings considerations such as “increasing the likelihood of pretextual stops” and increasing “government-cit-
izen involvement tenfold potentially.”
Bill supporters say Florida has some of the weakest penalties in the nation for texting, sending all the wrong signals.
The National Safety Council believes cellphone use behind the wheel is vastly under-reported, and figures texting is involved in 6 percent of U.S. accidents and cellphone use, including talking, is a factor in more than a quarter of crashes.
As many as 25 percent of drivers believe texting makes no difference in their driving, surveys by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have found.
Current law offers little deterrence or reason for drivers to think the state treats it as a serious problem, bill advocates say.
“Motor vehicle crashes are the number one cause of death for teenagers,” Slosberg said. “Primary enforcement of texting and driving laws decreases fatalities— most significantly among teenagers.”