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Henderson: Lawmakers should outlaw, not 'restrict,' texting and driving

 
A police officer speaks with a motorist about texting while driving while patrolling on his bicycle. Florida allows ticketing for the violation but only as a secondary offense and with a fine of just $30. [Associated Press]
A police officer speaks with a motorist about texting while driving while patrolling on his bicycle. Florida allows ticketing for the violation but only as a secondary offense and with a fine of just $30. [Associated Press]
Published Nov. 10, 2016

Rep. Richard Corcoran, designated speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, sounds serious about cleaning up things in Tallahassee. Among other things, he wants to ban the practice of state representatives receiving text messages from lobbyists while in session.

Bravo.

But as long as the good speaker-to-be from Land O' Lakes is on a jag about texts, he shouldn't stop with the too-cozy relationships between elected officials and those who get paid a lot of money to influence their decisions.

Corcoran should use his bully pulpit to finally put some teeth in Florida's darned-near-useless "restriction" on texting while driving. This issue isn't red or blue and it's time Tallahassee stopped inventing cockamamie reasons to avoid dealing with this.

The National Safety Council estimates one of four accidents in the United States happened because a driver was composing or reading a text. Let's put this in greater perspective: The council says texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk.

In 2015, the Florida Highway Patrol said texting was a factor in more than 45,000 crashes in the state resulting in 214 deaths. Hillsborough County had nearly 3,900 crashes and 11 fatalities in that same period.

Yet, the penalty for distracted driving is lighter than a feather tap on the wrist. After considerable wrangling and angst over limiting the "freedom" of drivers, the Legislature finally passed a tepid rule that made texting a secondary offense.

Translation: Drivers first had to commit some other violation like speeding before officers could pull them over. If they saw proof of texting during the process of that stop, they could pile on that secondary violation and the whopping $30 fine for a first offense.

In 2015, police in Florida issued only about 3,400 texting citations.

By contrast, a first-time DUI offender in Florida can get up to nine months in jail, a $2,000 fine, and suspension of their driver's license for up to a year.

We know the obsession people have with their cell phones and text messages. I saw a guy the other day driving in traffic ahead of me slow from what was normal speed to the point of almost a crawl while cars began to stack behind him. He kind of wobbled toward the side of the road before finally leaving us all room to get by and accelerate onto Interstate 75.

You guessed it.

With one hand still on the wheel and his eyes glued to his phone, he was trying what I presume was a text message or a maybe an email.

I'm sure it was urgent. Or maybe it was "don't forget to pick up milk on your way home." Or maybe it was "the Bucs really stunk it up last night." Maybe somebody was proposing a fantasy football trade.

I don't know, but I do care because that was dangerous. Imagine if that message had come a minute later when he actually made it onto I-75 doing 70 miles an hour (or more). I don't need to imagine. My guess is you don't either. We have all seen it, dodged it, or hit the brakes behind it.

The roads are dangerous and texting makes them worse. Give officers a chance to stop a wreck before it happens. Make the penalty hurt enough to make a driver think twice whether a text is worth the cost.

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That brings us back to Richard Corcoran.

The tone he is setting as speaker is good. He wants to fix things that need fixing. The text restriction and other changes he has in mind for his colleagues in the House is long needed.

He's talking about a public policy issue, though. I'm talking about a public safety issue and Corcoran's considerable voice can make a difference.

Contact Joe Henderson at joehtampa@tampabay.com