Distracted Driving: A Triple Threat ~ If it takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road or your mind off driving, it’s a distraction. ~ TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), its division of the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), and its public safety partners remind drivers to stay distraction-free while behind the wheel. April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and both drivers and passengers alike have a duty to refrain from engaging in or fostering distraction. The act of driving requires keen concentration as drivers must constantly be in tune with factors such as their speed, surroundings, other drivers, roadway conditions and more. Throw distractions into the mix such as texting or talking on the phone, and this act becomes harder to do safely. Preliminary data for 2024 shows that in Florida, nearly 300 people died and over 2,200 people suffered serious bodily injuries due to 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. While you may not think you are a distracted driver because you do not engage in more well-known distractions such as texting, you may be engaging in other distractions that put you, your passengers and others on the roadway at risk. This might include, but is not limited to, listening to loud music, eating, engaging with passengers or adjusting your vehicle’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, but not limited to, playing music loudly, shouting or talking loudly or unnecessarily directing the driver’s attention to objects or events taking place outside the vehicle. If the driver is engaging in distraction, you as a passenger have the right to speak up and inform them their actions are dangerous. To remedy, offer to send a text, help with navigation or make needed in-vehicle adjustments for them. Every day, Florida’s law enforcement officers, first responders, service workers, citizens and visitors find themselves along the side of the roadway. Whether they are doing their job, providing or receiving assistance, or attending to a personal need, it is the duty of all other motorists to obey the Florida Move Over Law and move over a lane or slow down if moving over is not possible. If you are driving distracted, it is difficult for you to perceive if something happening ahead of you along the roadway requires moving over, slowing down or coming to a stop. Eliminate distraction 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 Colonel 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, however, 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 and Aggressive Careless Driving. As a result, distracted driving is often underreported. Even still, a crash occurs every 44 seconds in Florida, and one in seven of those crashes is the result of a distracted driver.  Drivers who receive one of the above citations due to distracted driving can incur points on their driver license, fines and court fees or worse. Don’t let your decision to drive distracted be the reason someone does not arrive alive. “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.” "Distracted Driving is anything that takes your attention away from safe driving. Florida’s sheriffs are committed to enforcing distracted driving laws to protect the public. 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,” stated 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 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 driving distraction-free. For more information on distracted driving, visit FLHSMV’s distracted driving webpage.

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