Tampa City Council has scheduled its final vote on the Solicitation Ordinance, affectionately known as the panhandling law, for tomorrow, October 20, 2011. The measure passed its first round on October 6. If it passes as expected, the law takes effect November 1, 2011. The spirit of the law is aimed at public safety, especially for those operating motor vehicles. But there remains a question about who will really be regulated. Officially the ordinance is being drafted for reasons such as, “distracted drivers are more prone to accidents" and "persons engaging in distribution or solicitation is a practice which is unsafe for traffic flow and occupants of motorized vehicles located on public roads." It goes on to express concerns about "sudden traffic stopping or slow down, rapid lane changing, turns and other dangerous traffic movement."
With exceptions for purely passive communications (read protests) , the ordinance will prohibit the soliciting of business of any kind from public roadsides in the city of Tampa, due to the danger involved. It does not specifically ban things such as soliciting for car washes. However, concerns about change in traffic flow and any actions that go beyond "purely communicative aspect of oral advocacy" would seem to apply to these car-wash sign-wavers.
This article appears in Oct 20-26, 2011.