Texting-driving ban is close to being law

The days of legally texting while driving appear to be dwindling in Florida.

And it's not just texting that's becoming verboten. Bills are moving quickly through the Legislature in Tallahassee that would impose fines on anyone caught using any wireless device with one hand while steering with the other - even for reading a cell phone message.

The proposed laws working their way through the Legislature would allow drivers to be cited for texting only if they were pulled over for another offense, such as speeding.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, the sponsor of one of the main anti-texting bills, said the legislation could help Florida fall in line with the federal law that encourages states to ban texting while driving to receive certain federal funds.

On a unanimous vote Monday, Detert's bill moved through a Senate committee on Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations. It next goes to the full Senate. Meanwhile, an identical bill in the House also is moving quickly through committees.

Such texting and driving bans have long lines of political supporters, including the American Automobile Association and the largest cellular telephone industry association. More than two dozen states have some ban on texting while driving, and some studies have shown that Connecticut, New York, and the District of Columbia have cut driving while talking on a phone by more than 40 percent.

But one study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety cast some doubts, suggesting there may be no indication new laws decreased the accident rate.

The bill sponsored by Detert could add a fine of $30 for a "secondary offense" of texting while driving, with other court costs bringing that total to $129. Violations that result in a crash could add 6 points to a driver's record. All would become effective Oct. 1.

However, safety advocates say that the proposals have a serious flaw because they don't allow authorities to pull someone over for texting while driving.

"You can be distracted as much as you want by texting, as long as you don't get caught doing something else first," said Mike Lasche, director of Bicycle/Pedestrian Advocates of Sarasota.

Lasche said that he respects the political debate over how much the government can interfere in people's lives.

"We have seat belt laws that are about the government protecting you against yourself," Lasche said.

"That's a whole different type of debate. We have laws against speeding because it endangers others. We should have laws against texting because it endangers other innocent people," Lasche said.