Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog
In some states, it is illegal to text while driving. In Florida, there is no law against it, but that will likely change soon. There are bills moving through the Florida legislature that would make it illegal to text and drive. If one of the bills becomes the law in Florida, it will not be a criminal offense to text and drive; it will merely be a civil traffic infraction that will result in a traffic ticket and a fine. Additionally as the proposed law appears now, it will be a secondary offense. The significance of this is that the police are not allowed to pull a driver over based solely on a secondary offense. If texting and driving becomes a secondary offense, the police cannot pull someone over and give them a ticket if they are just texting and driving. The police can only give a driver a ticket for texting and driving if he/she is able to pull him/her over for a primary offense such as speeding or running a red light.
This becomes critical in criminal cases as many criminal cases, such as DUI and possession of illegal drugs or guns, start with a simple traffic stop. In all of those cases, it is important that the criminal defense lawyer review the stop and make sure it was legal. If the initial traffic stop is not legal, the evidence obtained by the police officer after the stop cannot be used against the defendant if there is a subsequent arrest and criminal charge.