Texting while driving in Florida soon to be illegal

[L8 Braker]

Full story in link below...

Florida Ban on Texting and Driving Gets Going | TheLedger.com

[acalliste]

I clicked on the link and got a white page with a red smear and the word OOPS in the middle of it.



I don't think texting & driving is a good idea. Banning it probably won't stop it though, and I don't have any faith that people who are doing it will be stopped, or people who aren't doing it won't be charged.

[SassyBikerChick]

I voted No, however, I do NOT think that texting while driving is good. Obviously you have to take your eyes off the road (or most people do) to text. (On my old phone I knew it so well that I could actually text without looking, but most people can't do that, and now that I have the iPhone I can't either since I have no tactile feedback) So while I think that texting and driving is a horrible idea and probably the cause for a lot of wrecks, especially with highschoolers, I do not think having a law to ban it is a good idea. I say this, because big brother already has his hands in too many aspects of our lives. To prove that you were texting while driving, they would have to pull your phone records to look at the time the last text was sent vs the time the wreck actually occurred. And what happens if they try to claim that you received a text and were reading it and that's why the wreck happened, if you did in fact receive a text, but didn't read it until after the wreck. I mean I know I'm not going to hand my cell phone over to a cop to let them go through it to see what has and hasn't been done recently, because I feel like that is an invasion of my privacy. I also don't want the government having the ability to pull my phone records...just opens up way too many doors that I'd rather keep closed. I also don't see a good way for them to enforce this law, because it'd be hard for a cop to see someone actually texting to be able to pull them over and give them a ticket. I think, like ACalliste said, the people who are texting while driving will continue to text while driving, whether there's a law against it or not.

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It always amazes me how Elected officials dont do a damn thing they are supposed to do, but have the balls to tell us what we should be doing.

[JulesAZ]

It's already illegal in Phoenix to text and drive. I don't know if it has made a dent or impact or not. I would have to research to see if there is any data on it.

[JulesAZ]

Here is a site that shows all the states with cell phone/texting laws

State Cell Phone Use and Texting While Driving Laws

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[LaurenOE]

At first I thought there shouldn't be a law as most people understand how stupid it is to text or read while driving.

But....You know how it is. Obviously there are enough stupid people to be doing it to cause an issue and now we have the politicians getting involved.

Oh well. Thanks to the stupid people - once again - for making the rules for the rest of us.

I never text while I'm driving, and hate to even use the phone when driving.

[SmoothSimpson]

Absolutely ban it. It is extremely dangerous.

[JulesAZ]

Ahh the cameras .... there are positives and negatives to the camera's. Now I have no data and there seems to be differing reports. Some reports show a reduction in accidents in areas with the camera's then another report came out and said there was a reduction because less people were driving because of the high gas prices.

AZ has a high rate of red light runners and accidents/deaths. There was an accident the other week just down the street ... motorcycle (guy w/ GF)with right of way crossing through intersection ... red light runner T-bones them. Not sure if they survived, I heard girl died then heard they survived (at the scene anyway) My neighbor saw the whole thing ... freaked him out. camera's at intersections ... they have reported these camera's have helped.

The camera's on the hwy ... I mentioned the reports above. I personally have seen people slow down and drive within the 11mph over speed limit range. I have also seen people slow down for the camera ... then speed up between the next camera (which is usually a mile or less apart). People will always find a loop hole.

I think most people hate them here because of the controversy regarding the validity of the ticket and the fact that is it more about revenue than making the roads safe. A ticket must be served by an officer to be valid ... so getting it in the mail is not a proper serve. However, if you don't pay the ticket they send again, if you don't pay then they "can" have it served and you get a court date. Most are never served. people were paying them until they realized they were not valid. I think only 30% of people pay the tickets. Tickets are usually thrown out after 90 days. So people just don't pay. However, now they say if you have more than 12 tickets they will come after you.

When you get a ticket in the mail there is NO points on your license, NO option to go to traffic school, NO option for a court date (on first receipt) to defend. So basically the only consequence is the cost of the ticket (avg $180).

Then there are the speed camera VANS (parked on the side of the road) ... one van operator was shot and killed ... while he was on the phone talking to his wife. From what I have been told the operators in the van are not officers.

The legal validity of the tickets from these are what is in question in this state. An actually have not generated as much revenue as anticipated since a large portion of it goes to REDFLEX (the speed camera co.). So it appears that the main factors in whether they go or stay is not whether it has made an impact on accidents but are the legal validity, the resources available to properly serve the tickets and most of all whether it is pulling enough revenue in to justify having them. It's all about the $$ for the government.

I personally keep my speed just under the 11mph over speed limit mark. I got a ticket when they first were put up. I paid it because I thought I HAD to. If I don't want to get another ticket ... knowing my luck I'd get served. Given the state/city deficit they are desperate for money so I don't want to chance it.

My BF got a ticket while driving my car ... so I got the ticket ... and they said in the ticket that I had to provide the info of the driver.... but when I looked it up it said I 'can" provide the info. I threw it in the trash. My thought is ... if a cop pulled us over then you would know who the f#ck was driving.