Last Friday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that enforces stricter texting while driving laws. 

Under the current laws, police are only allowed to give tickets to people who are texting and driving if they have been initially pulled over for another offence, however, this new bill will allow police to conduct traffic stops if they see a driver texting while they are driving.  

While the law is expected to go into place on July 1st, Florida Highway Patrol Lieutenant, Eddie Elmore, clarified that there will be a period where drivers will have a couple of months to get familiarized with the new law.

“What we’re going to do is have an educational time frame from July to December which gives the public time to learn the law, get educated with the new law, so that we can start having a reduction in crashes and get rid of some of this distracted driving that we have out on the roadways,”

Elmore also stated the legal consequences of texting while driving: “It could be up to $165 fine plus 3 points on your license which impacts your insurance and your wallet.” 

While texting and driving is illegal throughout the state, phone calls are allowed as long as drivers use a hands-free mode while in school and construction zones.