TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida transportation and traffic authorities are reminding drivers to stay distraction-free as part of April’s National Distracted Driving Awareness campaign.
Both drivers and passengers have a job to refrain from engaging in or encouraging distraction, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) and the Florida Highway Patrol.
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The act of driving requires you to be very concentrated because drivers must be in tune with factors like speed, surroundings, other drivers, roadway conditions, and more, officials warn.
Throw distractions into the mix like texting or talking on the phone, and this act becomes harder to do safely.
Data from 2024 shows that in Florida, nearly 300 people died and over 2,000 people suffered bodily injuries because of a distracted driver.
A distraction is anything that takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road, or your mind off the act of driving.
Even though you may think you’re not a distracted driver because you don’t engage in well-known distractions like texting, you may be engaging with passengers or other distractions that put you, your passengers, and others on the road at risk.
This may include listening to loud music, eating, engaging with passengers or adjusting your car’s entertainment or navigation system.
Just like the driver, passengers have a duty and responsibility to cultivate a safe driving environment.
As a passenger, refrain from distracting behaviors such as playing loud music, shouting, talking loudly, or unnecessarily directing the driver’s attention to objects or events outside of the car.
If the driver is distracted, speak up and inform them that their actions are dangerous.
To remedy the situation, send a text, help with navigation, or make needed car adjustments for them.
Every day, Florida’s law officials, first responders, service workers, citizens, and visitors find themselves along the roadway. Whether they are doing their job, providing or receiving assistance, or attending to a personal need, it’s the duty of all motorists to obey the Florida Move Over Law and move over a lane.
If you are driving distracted, it is difficult for you to perceive if something’s happening ahead of you on the road, come would require you to move over, slow down or come to a stop. Eliminate distractions so you can protect those who protect you.
“When you engage in a distraction while behind the wheel, even briefly, you put your life and others’ on the roadway in danger,” said FLHSMV Executive Director Dave Kerner. “No matter how important a text, call or other distraction may be, it can wait. Your primary focus should be ensuring you and your passengers arrive to your destination safely.”
“Steering clear from distractions while driving prevents tragedies,” said FHP Co. Gary Howze II. “It is your duty and responsibility to stay alert and operate your vehicle in a vigilant manner each time you drive. Distractions can wait, but the safety of you and those around you cannot.”
In Florida, texting and driving is a primary offense under Florida’s Wireless Communications While Driving Law, but due to the nature of distracted driving as an offense, citations can fall under various other statutes, including:
- Careless driving
- Failure to maintain a single lane
- Aggressive careless driving
Drivers who receive one of the above citations can incur points on their driver’s license, fines, court fees or worse.
“We all play a role in creating safer roadways and that starts with the choice to make responsible driving decisions, such as putting away distractions, while behind the wheel,” said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue, P.E. “Small actions can lead to major strides in achieving our goal of eliminating serious injuries and fatalities across Florida’s roadways.”
“We ask you to take steps to eliminate distractions that could lead to crashes. As President of the Florida Sheriffs Association, I fully support the ‘Put It Down’ campaign by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles,” said Charlotte County Sheriff Bill Prummell, President of the Florida Sheriffs Association.
“This Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the Florida Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) urges drivers to be ‘hands free’ by connecting their devices to Bluetooth in their vehicles and concentrating on the road,” said FPCA President Charlie Vazquez, Chief of Police at Tampa International Airport. “No call or text, no alert from your social media accounts, is worth your life. Please make the roads safer for everyone by choosing to focus fully on driving.”
Next time you get behind the wheel, remember the importance of distraction-free driving.
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