Using your cell phone to talk or text while driving is hot-button issue. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) want to educate people about the dangers of distracted driving. Each year, bills placing restrictions on cell phone use in cars are put before the Florida legislature and each year the bills are vetoed.
For the 2012 legislative session, six bills are being presented. There is no word yet on whether or not they will pass.
Should Florida lawmakers ban the use of cell phones while driving?
After polling 50 people in the Greater Fort Lauderdale area, only two admitted that they did not use their cell phones while driving, and if they did they used Bluetooth or put the phone on speaker. The rest admitted that they text or talk without a hands-free device while driving.
When asked why they use their cell phones while driving without a hands-free device or in spite of the potential safety risk, most shrugged and admitted they had no excuse. Others openly confessed that if they had to call or text, they did it because they weren’t going to wait until they were out of their car to do it.
Of course, most people have seen the drivers with cell phones or seen someone whose hands are off of the wheel because they are texting. A 22-year old Pembroke Pines woman said, ‘I’m a good driver. I can multi-task.’
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The NTSB doesn't think so. That’s why they are pushing for the states that haven’t yet passed laws against cell phone use and driving to do so as soon as possible.
When asked whether or not he thought cell use should be banned while driving, Trent, an 18-year old college student, said, ‘I don’t think that’s going to stop anybody.’
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