TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist and the state’s top highway safety appointee endorsed a ban on texting while driving Tuesday, adding new momentum to an idea that has never taken hold in the Legislature.
At a Cabinet meeting, Crist politely prodded Julie Jones, the executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, to support a texting ban.
“It’s important that we do everything we can to make sure that our fellow Floridians are safe,” Crist said.
“The obvious danger of (texting while driving) is absurd.”
“We support limiting texting and driving,” Jones told Crist and the Cabinet after he asked her to add the issue to the agency’s 2010 legislative wish list.
Jones later told reporters that she senses a shift in public opinion in support of a crackdown on texting while driving as a result of a number of fatal accidents caused by texting behind the wheel.
More than a dozen bills have been filed for consideration in the spring 2010 session.
Similar measures have rarely gotten even a committee hearing in past years.
Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, a candidate for agriculture commissioner, has filed two bills to ban texting while driving. “It’s slowly been building,” Baker said. “I think this year, something’s going to pass.”
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia already ban texting while driving.
Disclaimer: Story comments are intended to provide a place for constructive dialog about issues and events in our community. Your input is encouraged and can make a positive difference. To achieve this, no obscenity, personal attacks, or racial slurs are tolerated. Users brought to our attention for violating our terms of use will be blocked from commenting permanently and without notice. Please help keep the comments on topic by flagging objectionable material and remember that children and young adults may be reading your comments. With freedom of speech comes the responsibility to be respectful of others.
Email Story
Printer Friendly 
Quick Job Search