“Enforcement time” has come for motorists caught texting and driving by Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
The arrival of 2020 brings a handful of changes stemming from the 2019 legislative session, including final pieces of enforcing a new law that cracks down on texting and driving. Starting Wednesday, the highway patrol will join other law-enforcement agencies in issuing tickets, instead of warnings, to motorists stopped for texting while driving.
“There’s going to always be education going on, however now it’s going to be enforcement time,” Lt. Derrick Rahming of the highway patrol said. “We never want anyone to learn the hard way, so we gave everyone six months to learn about this law. But, now come Jan. 1, it’s a primary offense and we are going to start issuing citations.”
The new year also will usher in other changes passed during the spring legislative session, including part of a tax package that required a reduction in a tax that businesses pay on commercial leases.
As with the tax package, the bulk of the texting-while-driving law went into place July 1.
Florida in recent years has banned texting while driving, but it had been enforced as a “secondary” offense — meaning motorists could only be cited for texting if they were stopped for other reasons such as speeding. But the new law (HB 107) made it a “primary” offense, allowing police to pull over motorists for texting behind the wheel.
The law also bars motorists from talking on cell phones in school and work zones, unless the motorists use “hands-free” electronic devices.
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