Ryan Ray
Sen. Thad Altman filed a bill on Tuesday that would allow Florida law enforcement to pull drivers over solely for texting while driving.
Under current law officers may only cite drivers for doing so as a secondary offense, not warranting a traffic stop on its own.
State statute 316.305 provides that enforcement of the state’s texting-while-driving prohibition “must be accomplished only as a secondary action when an operator of a motor vehicle has been detained for a suspected violation of another section” of Florida criminal code.
Altman’s one-page proposal – SB 328 – would simply delete language currently on the books.
The just-filed bill, which would go into effect on October 1, 2016, so far has no House companion bill. It is, however, similar to SB 246 & HB 25 filed by Sen. Maria Sachs and Rep. Richard Stark, respectively, though Altman’s bill goes farther in cracking down on distracted driving.
Those Democratic-sponsored pieces of legislation would double the penalty for drivers violating the state ban on texting while driving while in a school zone, though violations would still only be discovered after a driver is already detained for a separate infraction.
Stark’s House version legislation is cosponsored by Palm Beach Republican Rep. Bill Hager, but Altman’s bill is still more likely at this juncture to gain traction towards passage in the GOP-dominated statehouse.
Past attempts to make similar changes have failed, however. Identical versions of Altman’s and Sachs’ proposals died last year amid the House’s surprise early adjournment last earlier this year.
