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Admit it. Sometimes, you hold your phone while driving, glancing down to switch music or maybe to peek at a social media notification. Most of us have been there. 🤦♀️
But under the law that went into effect on July 1, it is illegal to text while driving in Florida.
Image via GIPHY
📱The law
- Drivers are prohibited from manually typing or entering letters, numbers, symbols, or characters into a wireless communications device or sending + reading data for the purpose of non-voice interpersonal communication while driving.
- Law enforcement, first responders, radio broadcasts + autonomous vehicle drivers are excluded.
- People reporting an emergency or criminal activity are also excluded.
📱Penalties
- The first conviction for a non-moving traffic violation is $30.
- The second conviction for a moving violation (within five years) is $60 and three points on your license.
- Starting Oct. 1, 2019, you can be pulled over and issued a warning if you’re in a work zone or school zone but from Jan. 1, 2020, you’ll be issued a citation for not using a device in a hands-free manner in those zones.
📱 What is allowed
- Using a device or system in a hands-free manner for navigation purposes.
- Using a device hands-free or hands-free in voice-operated mode, including a factory-installed or after-market Bluetooth device.
📱 By the numbers
- In 2018, there were 52,129 accidents in Florida that involved a distracted driver. That’s an average of 143 crashes a day.
- In Polk County, there were 1,305 crashes that involved distracted driving. (Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles)
