Floridian Drivers Can Get Pulled Over For Texting While Driving
Time to put that phone down (although you really shouldn’t be texting and driving anyways).
Despite concerns over increased racial profiling, law-enforcement officers may soon be able to pull over motorists they see texting and driving, under a measure approved Tuesday by the House.
The House voted 104-9 on the proposal (HB 107) by Rep. Jackie Toledo, R-Tampa, and Rep. Emily Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, which would shift texting while driving from a “secondary” offense to a “primary” offense.
The Senate is set to vote Wednesday on a different proposal that would only allow motorists to use hands-free wireless devices when they are traveling on Florida roads, however, this is a restriction that House leaders haven’t supported.
The current law only permits police to cite motorists for texting while driving if they are pulled over for other reasons, but this change will allow police to pull over motorists for the offense of texting while driving.
Under this new House bill, officers will be required to record the ethnicity and race of people who receive citations for this reason. This new system will also hold officers more accountable and can track certain motorist
Under the new House bill, law-enforcement officers would have to record the race and ethnicity of people who receive citations for texting while driving. This could allow tracking if certain motorists are being targeted.
The House approved a similar measure last year, but it failed to advance in the Senate.
“This bill is about one thing, saving lives,” said Slosberg in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
By: Maytinee Kramer
