The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has recently urged state and federal governments to issue a ban on texting while driving, or using any distracting mobile device. Florida is currently one of only 15 states that do not have a ban on distracted driving.
Legislation for a ban in Florida was proposed, but nothing has passed all the way through the state government. Some proposed legislation bans all drivers under the age of 18 from using a cell phone while driving at all. Another one banned cell phone use in school zones. The fines for the violations range from $30 to $60 for first time offenders.
Some officials claim that the law would be difficult to enforce, given advances in hands-free and blue-tooth technology.
“If you identify someone who has a hands-free set hooked up to their ear that doesn’t mean they are talking on their phone,” Captain Donald Melanson of the West Hartford, Connecticut Police Department. Others argue that the police can use new technology to detect phone use.
“It would be really easy for police to have a computer on board to pick up those [cell phone] signals,” says Fred Mannering, a Purdue University civil engineering professor. “But it’s sort of big brother.”
The Metier Law Firm, LLC, a Denver firm, posted about this issue as well. Would you like to see a statewide texting ban imposed on all Florida drivers? Have you or a loved one been injured in a car accident?
Wooten Kimbrough, P.A.—Orlando personal injury attorneys.