In Tallahassee, the Senate Budget Committee has approved a texting-while-driving bill (SB 416) that would classify the offense as a secondary violation — meaning that a driver would have to be pulled over for some other action initially. But for those of you who think this means Florida might join the other 35 states who have enacted some sort of law on cell phones in cars, consider that this is the third straight year that such a bill has passed through this committee, only to die in the House of Representatives.
And apparently there's no indication it will be any different this year.
House Speaker Dean Cannon does not support the legislation, saying that he has personal liberty qualms about "any bill that regulates individual behavior," though critics note that he lacks such concerns when it comes to requiring women to undergo ultrasounds before having abortions.
A companion bill in the House sponsored by Sarasota Republican Ray Pilon has gone nowhere. It has yet to get a hearing by the House Transportation and Highway Safety Subcommittee, chaired by Brad Drake, who also opposes the measure.
Senate sponsor Nancy Detert from Sarasota tells the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that she hopes at least that the House can hear about the bill. "It's strictly texting. I’m not trying to take the cell phone out of your cold dead hand. I’m just saying stop weaving into my lane.”
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2012.