Florida will soon be included among the states of the US where driving while texting is legally banned. The risky habit has claimed many lives of both youth and adult in the past as well as in the present. In a senate poll that was held recently, ban was sought for the habit by 36-0 votes. Thus, the proposal is clear to reach the House. Due to such unanimous response in the senate, the proposal is expected to get cleared by the White House too. In fact, Governor Rick Scott is reported to have mentioned to include the proposed bill into the federallaw soon.
If the proceedings of the proposal continue as it has so far, it is soon would be the part of law in the state quite soon in 2013. The bill considers the driving while texting as secondary or dependant offence. This means that mere texting is not enough cause to book the driver. Traffic offences have to be primary causes for signing of ticket. If texting is evident, then it shall be booked as an offence under separate ticket. $30 is the penalty for first offence while $60 is charged from those who are caught within next 5 years. Besides, license gets assessed too.
Texting when the car is still or stuck in jam and texting via voice-to-text translator of the car is permitted. Still, it is preferable to avoid driving while texting unless there is an emergency of some kind.
Picture credit: Fox news