It's Time for Florida to Go Hands-Free

Every day, Floridians witness the same dangerous scene: a driver looking down at a phone instead of the road ahead. They're texting, scrolling social media, reading emails, selecting a playlist, or entering directions—all while operating a vehicle that weighs thousands of pounds.
We shake our heads, hope it doesn't affect us, and continue on our way.
But hope is not a public safety strategy.
Every day we delay meaningful action, another family receives a phone call that changes their lives forever. These crashes are not unavoidable tragedies. They are preventable. Yet for more than a decade, Florida has repeatedly failed to pass a comprehensive hands-free driving law despite overwhelming public support, growing evidence, and successful implementation across the country.
The time for half-measures has passed.
Distracted driving has become one of the leading causes of crashes on Florida roadways. Looking away from the road for just a few seconds can mean the difference between arriving home safely and causing a crash that forever changes multiple lives. Texting behind the wheel is particularly dangerous because it combines visual, manual, and cognitive distractions—taking a driver's eyes, hands, and mind away from the one task that matters most: driving. (NHTSA)
Florida does have laws that prohibit texting while driving and prohibit handheld phone use in school and work zones. Unfortunately, those laws simply are not enough.
The problem isn't that law enforcement isn't trying.
The problem is that the current law is incredibly difficult to enforce. Officers often cannot distinguish between legal and illegal phone use from outside a moving vehicle. As a result, dangerous handheld phone use continues largely unchecked—not because officers don't care, but because the law limits their ability to intervene before tragedy strikes.
Floridians deserve better than legislation that creates the appearance of action without providing the tools necessary to protect the public.
The encouraging news is that Florida's residents already understand the problem.
A recent State Farm statewide survey of more than 1,000 Florida drivers found distracted driving to be the state's top roadway safety concern. Eighty-three percent support a comprehensive hands-free law, while ninety-one percent agree that handheld phone use while driving increases the risk of crashing. Floridians have spoken clearly. They want stronger, enforceable laws that make our roads safer—not another legislative session where meaningful reform is delayed.
Florida lawmakers should listen.
Today, 33 states have adopted comprehensive hands-free laws, and many have reported measurable reductions in distracted driving behavior, crashes, injuries, and fatalities following implementation and enforcement. In Ohio alone, the first six months after its strengthened hands-free law took effect saw a 16 percent reduction in distracted-driving crashes and nearly a 25 percent decrease in distracted-driving fatalities. (EnewsPD.Cleveland.com)
The evidence is no longer theoretical. It is proven.
Critics sometimes argue that another traffic law won't change behavior. History tells a different story. Seat belt laws, child restraint requirements, and impaired driving laws all faced skepticism when they were first proposed. Today, they are widely accepted because they save lives.
Hands-free legislation is simply the next logical step in improving roadway safety.
Let's also be clear about what this legislation does—and does not—do.
Hands-free does not mean risk-free.
The safest thing any driver can do is devote their complete attention to driving and avoid interacting with a phone altogether. This legislation is not suggesting that phone conversations are perfectly safe. Rather, it establishes a minimum safety standard by prohibiting drivers from physically holding and manipulating a phone while operating a vehicle.
Drivers would still be permitted to use integrated technologies such as Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, voice commands, and other built-in vehicle systems. The law simply recognizes that manually holding and manipulating a phone creates unnecessary visual and physical distractions that significantly increase crash risk.
Ultimately, our goal should always be zero distractions behind the wheel.
This issue is about far more than convenience.
It is about protecting every person who uses Florida's roadways: drivers, passengers, bicyclists, pedestrians, motorcyclists, roadside workers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, EMS personnel, construction workers, and children. Every moment a driver's eyes leave the roadway increases the likelihood that someone else's life could change forever.
For more than ten years, Florida has debated comprehensive hands-free legislation.
For more than ten years, families have continued losing loved ones in preventable distracted driving crashes.
At some point, continued inaction becomes its own decision.
It should not take losing your spouse, your child, your parent, or your best friend before this issue becomes personal. The uncomfortable reality is that if we continue accepting the status quo, the question is no longer whether distracted driving will affect another Florida family—it's whose family will be next.
Floridians have made their voices heard.
Law enforcement has consistently explained that the current law is difficult to enforce.
More than thirty states have already demonstrated that comprehensive hands-free laws work.
The evidence exists. The public support exists. The opportunity exists.
Now, Florida's elected leaders must find the resolve to act.
The 2027 Legislative Session presents another opportunity to save lives. Let's not allow another year of preventable tragedy to pass us by.
It's time for Florida to put the phone down, put safety first, and finally become a hands-free state.