By Gina Jordan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-896264.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – You've probably been on the road with someone who was sending text messages or reading emails behind the wheel. What started as dozens of proposed bills in the Florida Legislature relating to cell phone use while driving has been whittled down to just a handful.
Senator Nancy Detert, Republican of Venice, sponsors a measure that focuses on texting.
"You all know the pros and cons of texting while driving, and we've all seen it as we drive, and maybe we're even sometimes offenders."
Detert says the express legislative intent of the bill is to improve safety and prevent crashes. She took her proposal before the Senate Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities Committee Wednesday.
"A bill has been introduced in Congress to require states to approve a ban on texting while driving or lose 25-percent of federal highway money. Based on the 2005 figures, the Florida portion would equal nearly $200-million. If a ban is enacted, Florida could also be eligible for an additional $3-million in existing federal transit funds."
Law enforcement officers would be able to issue texting citations only as a secondary offense, meaning the motorist would have to be pulled over for some other reason. The proposal does make exceptions for emergency vehicles, which Senator Steve Oelrich, Republican of Gainesville, found odd.
Oelrich: "Why in the world would we want to make an exception for emergency workers?"
Detert: "Well, like EMT's and ambulances."
Oelrich: "Yea, when they're proceeding down the road, we want them to text?"
Detert: "Well, we don't want them to text but in case of emergencies only."
Oelrich: "Well, I think that would be the time that we would absolutely not want them to text."
Detert: "Point taken."
Senator Dan Gelber, Democrat of Miami Beach and Attorney General candidate, has his own proposal moving through committees known as the "You Talk, You Walk" bill. He says sixteen and seventeen-year-olds should not be using the phone at all while driving
"Would you consider at some point amending the bill so that, for minors who are new drivers and a disproportionate amount of accidents occur and are also impressionable, all my bill would do would say it's a secondary offense like yours. You can't use a phone at all, and if you do, you lose your license for thirty days, which would actually change their behavior. I'm hoping someone in the House is listening because I think this is great public policy, as I think yours is. But I think we really need to focus on minors right now and having kids approaching that age."
Detert said she is open to Gelber's suggestion. The measure passed the committee. With several similar measures floating around the House and Senate, more will have to be done to pare them down for final votes in each chamber.