Texting while driving ban could take effect in Florida

Working to improve truck driving safety in Florida, lawmakers in the state are considering a texting while driving ban, which 35 states and the District of Columbia have already imposed, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.

In Florida, there have been a number of failed bills regarding texting while driving, with many of them dying due to lawmakers believing the regulations would be undue government intrusion.

"We may be infringing on your rights a little, but you’re infringing on us," Joyce Concklin, a Hernando County horse trainer who was injured by a texting driver, told Insurance Journal. "This (accident) changed my life, and not for the better."

The current bills would make texting while driving a secondary offense, meaning that the driver would have to be pulled over for something such as speeding in order to be cited for texting.

Republican Representative Ray Pilon from Sarasota and Republican Senator Nancy Detert from Venice were the two Florida lawmakers who proposed the bills,to reduce accidents in the state related to distracted drivers.

Texting while driving ban could take effect in Florida

Monday, February 13th, 2012