Personal Injury Lawyers in Fort Walton Beach Share Progress for Florida’s New Safe Driving Law

Fort Walton Beach, FL. – Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s “no texting while driving” law that went into effect on July 1st, 2019. The new law upgraded texting while driving from a secondary offense to a primary one. In other words, police officers can now pull someone over solely for texting.

The law came into effect after startling statistics showed that car accidents related to negligent driving grew almost four times in as many years. The growing number of cell phone users coupled with the user’s “need it now” mentality has only added to this fact.

Personal injury lawyers in Fort Walton Beach are thankful for the small step in reducing car accident cases. Terence Gross, Board Certified Lawyer and co-founder of Gross & Schuster P.A., said this about the new law: “As a personal injury lawyer, I can attest to the fact that way more accidents are caused in today’s society by people texting or distracted by their cellphones than by drunken drivers. The national trend is in favor of more stringent texting while driving laws due to the inherent dangers of distracted drivers.” In response to doubts about whether the law will rectify the issue, Gross says, “Whether or not this new law will reduce accidents remains to be seen.”

Florida residents are conflicted about the law. Some feel that it was long overdue and should be followed up with more strict laws. Other residents, however, feel as though the law is an invasion of privacy. Either way, the Florida state legislature deems the topic extremely important.

However, the law does not ban texting while a car is stationary. A driver is technically within their full legal rights to text when stopped at a stoplight or stuck in traffic. Car accident lawyers in Fort Walton Beach advise against this because it can still cause an accident.

Florida’s progression towards creating safer roadways is nowhere near done. However, the progress so far should not be taken lightly. For the lawyers at Gross & Schuster P.A., this new law is a step in the right direction. For more information about cell phone-related car accidents or other personal injury claims, contact Gross & Schuster P.A. (850) 244-7191 or www.grossandschuster.com.