JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nowadays, it seems like every time you’re on the road, you spot someone looking at a phone while driving. Florida passed a hands-free law in 2019 to curb distracted driving — but law enforcement says it’s still a persistent problem.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office wrote nearly 160 tickets last year for texting and driving, and officers say the issue is growing.
A crash happens in Florida about every 44 seconds, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The agency says about one in seven crashes involves distracted driving. It also reports distracted driving killed more than 300 people statewide last year — the highest total since 2021.
Officer Timothy Prince with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office says distracted drivers often admit they aren’t paying attention. “I’ve given a lot of tickets for that and they say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I was on my phone, I wasn’t paying attention to the speed,’” Prince said. “And if you weren’t paying attention to speed, that means you weren’t paying attention to the car in front of you either.”
Prince said social media and side hustle work like Uber Eats or Door Dash can make the distraction worse, especially when drivers hold their phones to use those delivery and rideshare apps. “It’s because of social media,” he said. “The other thing is a lot of people doing the side hustles — DoorDash or Uber — they have to use their app… So they’re holding their phone. But you don’t understand the severity of it because if you are dead, you can’t even work.”
Some drivers told News4JAX they don’t think the hands-free law is changing behavior.
The Florida Highway Patrol is spending this month educating drivers about staying focused on the road. Safety reminders and resources are available here.
More numbers from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles: more than 52,000 crashes in Florida last year were linked to distracted driving, leading to hundreds of deaths and more than 2,100 serious injuries.