If you have driven down I-95 in recent years, you may have noticed the signs throughout Georgia indicating that “texting while driving is illegal in Georgia.” Florida has now joined Georgia with an anti-texting law. Florida is now the fortieth state to make texting while driving against the law. Florida’s new anti-texting statute became law on October 1, 2013. The law allows law enforcement officers to cite drivers for texting while driving, if they are also violating another traffic law. The law also allows courts to look at the phone records of a driver who caused an automobile accident while texting.
There were 256,443 reported crashes in Florida in 2012. In 4,841 of those crashes, a driver had been texting or otherwise using an “electronic communication device” while driving, according to a preliminary report from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The real percentage of accidents caused by the distractions of electronic communications is likely much higher.
You have probably seen distracted drivers in Florida—those folks who seem to take a break from their text messages and emails to look up at the road. Stand on a street corner one day and notice how many of these distracted drivers you see. Hopefully, the new law will deter some of those drivers and make Florida highways a little safer this year.
As the next generation seems to be learning to use smartphones and tablets before learning to walk, it is important to get the word out about the new law, and the dangers and consequences of texting while driving—especially to new drivers.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an automobile accident as a result of texting and driving, you need a trusted, competent, and aggressive attorney to make sure you are compensated for your injuries. Sessums Law Group, P.A. is the law firm you need because we STAND FOR YOU!
Mark A. Sessums, Esq., is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Florida Bar and handles accident and injury cases throughout Florida with the firm, SESSUMS LAW GROUP, P.A. Mark A. Sessums is A.V. rated by Martindale Hubbell rating service (the highest available rating); 10.0 rated by AVVO.com (the highest available rating) and has been rated a Super Lawyer every year since the inception of the rating service in 2006 (only 5% of Florida Lawyers are rated Super Lawyers). The firm has two Central, Florida office locations in Lakeland and Sebring, Florida to serve you.