State Sen. Maria Sachs is calling on lawmakers to strengthen the law on texting while driving that will go into effect Tuesday.
The Delray Beach Democrat proposes to amend the new law, which treats texting while driving as a “secondary offense.” As it currently stands, law enforcement can only ticket a driver for texting after stopping them for another offence. Violators of the law will have committed a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a nonmoving violation.
Sachs filed the new rules since Florida Legislature passed the original proposal only after it was watered down, so it could pass both the House and Senate. The secondary status of the violation was a “typo” that Sachs is trying to correct.
In the new bill, there will continue to be a few exemptions; drivers will not be ticketed for receiving messages related to the operation or navigation of the vehicle, the same is true for safety-related information, such as emergency, traffic, or weather alerts.
Also exempted from the law are drivers conducting wireless communication that does not require manual entry of multiple letters, numbers, or symbols, except when it is to activate, deactivate, or initiate a feature or function. Radio broadcasts will also continue to be allowed.
In a nod to the future of automobile travel, drivers will be able to text while operating a “driverless car,” or technology installed without the active control or monitoring by a human operator.
