TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A bill aimed at combating distracted driving on Florida roads is moving forward in the State Senate.
Senate Bill 1318 would rename the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving” law to the “Florida Hands-Free Driving Law.” It would also expand the prohibition to include “using, while driving, a wireless communications device in a handheld manner except to activate, deactivate, initiate, or terminate a feature or function of the device, including a hands-free accessory.”
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The current bill only bans texting while driving - it does not prohibit you from having a phone in your hand. This bill will largely prohibit you from having your phone or any wireless device in your hand or touching any part of your body. It would also make it a primary offense.
Florida Traffic Safety Board statistics show in 2024, there were 697,439 total crashes in the state, 14,003 serious injuries, and 3,080 fatalities. 2,289 of those serious injuries and 275 deaths were considered a direct result of distracted driving accidents.
“It’s more than a hope. It’s a knowledge that it will save lives,” said Demetrius Branca.
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In 2014, Branca lost his 19-year-old son Anthony to a distracted driver. He’s positive this bill, if passed and signed into law, would make Florida roads safer.
“We’ve tried this in 30 other states, plus the District of Columbia, and in every single one as soon as this law is implemented, fatality rates on the roads go down drastically,” said Branca.
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In 2018, Georgia became one of the first states in the Southeast to implement a hands-free driving law.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) shows the number of people killed in Georgia crashes involving a distracted driver the year the bill passed was 65. The following year, that number dropped to 43 deaths.
Maurice Raines is the Deputy Director for the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS). He says the number of distracted driver convictions also went up since the law passed.
“Before the law was passed we averaged about 4000 (convictions) and today we bring in over 57,000. So the numbers are going up because people are still trying to do it, but it has helped us. It reduced the number of fatal crashes in our state,” said Raines.
The Florida bill has one more committee hearing before heading to the Senate floor for a vote.
More on Florida politics:
Read: Florida bill would remove work hour restrictions, create exemptions for minors depending on age
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