The era of answering emails and texts and looking up recipes and posting to Instagram and liking friends’ Facebook posts on your phone while driving without getting a ticket is over in Florida.
The Sunshine State, until now a bit of a Wild West compared to other states when it comes to phone use while driving, on Monday will become a place where cops can pull you over solely for texting and driving.
Until now, texting and driving was not a primary offense, meaning that police could cite drivers for texting and driving only if they had been pulled over for another infraction.
Under the new law passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, law enforcement will now have the authority to pull over drivers just for texting and driving.
There is a bit of a grace period. While a texting and driving violation would get you a $30 fine for a first offense plus court costs (which could jack up the total cost to about $108) and $60 for a second, officers will be issuing only warnings until January. Then, officers will began issuing actual citations.
The law is seen by some as a step in the right direction in terms of road safety, but it’s also been criticized by others as not going far enough.