No. SB 1152
Filed under Transportation.
Traffic Offenses; Prohibiting a person from operating a motor vehicle while using a wireless communications device in a handheld manner; providing an exception; requiring that sustained use of a wireless communications device by a person operating a motor vehicle be conducted through a hands-free accessory until such use is terminated; revising penalty provisions relating to the use of wireless communications devices in a handheld manner in certain circumstances, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDFlorida currently bans only texting while driving; you can legally hold your phone to make a call or check a map. This bill bans holding the device at all -- any sustained use of a phone while driving must now go through a hands-free accessory.
The exceptions that used to let drivers hold the phone for navigation or for a voice call without texting are deleted. Only a brief touch to start, stop, or switch a function is still allowed by hand.
In school and work zones, a violation now carries specific fines that escalate fast: $150 for a first offense, $250 for a second, and $500 plus a 90-day license suspension for a third.
The bill also rewrites what counts as a wireless communications device, now covering voice calls, photos, and video, not just text, while still excluding CB radios, medical devices, and a car's own built-in navigation or security systems.
AICurrent law only bans manually typing a text while driving; holding the phone to talk or navigate is legal. The bill instead bans using a wireless device in a handheld manner at all while driving, allowing only a brief touch to start, stop, or switch a function.
AICurrent law exempts using a device for navigation and having a voice conversation that doesn't require typing, even while holding the device. Both exceptions are deleted, so holding the phone for either purpose becomes illegal under the new general ban.
AIA handheld violation in a school or work zone now carries a specific, escalating penalty on top of the base infraction: $150 for a first offense, $250 for a second, and $500 with a 90-day license suspension for a third.
AIThe old definition covered only devices meant to send text or access data. The new definition explicitly reaches voice calls, photos, and video, and names tablets, laptops, and gaming devices, while excluding CB and ham radios, medical devices, and a vehicle's built-in systems.
AISection 316.306 used to be its own separate handheld-use ban for school and work zones, with its own definitions and exceptions. It's now a penalties section layering extra fines onto a violation of the general ban in 316.305, rather than banning anything on its own.