That means police can cite a driver caught texting behind the wheel, but only if the driver was originally pulled over on the grounds of another violation. The new bill introduced by state Rep. Jackie Toledo, R-Tampa, and Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, however, would change that by defining any kind of distracted driving as a citation, Tampa Bay Times reports.
And not stopping with a ban on texting and petting our lovely, furry friends, the bill would also ban reading, writing and applying makeup while driving, which is perfectly reasonable given how those are all very good examples of very bad things to do when behind the wheel. In a AAA survey, 52 percent of respondents claimed they pet their dog while driving, and 29 percent admitted their pets distracted them. It's unclear whether any feline influence had anything to do with this.
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This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 7, 2019.