“Distracted driving is deadly, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,” says the proposed resolution submitted by Commissioner Heather Carruthers. “In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed and 391,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers.”
Florida law does not allow officers to stop a vehicle only because a driver is seen texting, says the resolution. If there is another charge, texting can be added as a secondary violation.
Only three other states do not list texting as a primary violation that can trigger a traffic stop. Bills introduced in the Florida Legislature to make texting a primary violation have stalled. Carruthers’ resolution calls for a law change and would direct Monroe County’s lobbyists to advocate for such a change in Tallahassee.
In other business at the Aug. 16 meeting at the Harvey Government Center in Key West:
Commissioners will decide whether to hold a hearing on a proposed ordinance that could impose a boating go-slow speed in canal systems less than 75 feet wide. A 1997 local law previously covered all Florida Keys canal systems, but a 2002 state law change rendered the Monroe County law unenforceable because it covered manmade waterways more than 75 feet wide.
Hold a public hearing that expands the mandatory sewage pump-out requirement to all anchored vessels that serve as liveaboard residences. Currently the county provides pump-outs at no cost to boaters to prevent pollution.
Will consider reappointing Key West resident and business owner George L. Fernandez to the county Tourist Development Council board of directors.
©2017 the Florida Keys Keynoter (Marathon, Fla.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
