April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

~ If it takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road or your mind off driving,
it’s a distraction. ~

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), its division of the Florida Highway

Patrol (FHP), and its public safety partners remind drivers to stay distraction-free
while behind the wheel. April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month,
and both drivers and passengers alike have a duty to refrain from engaging in or
fostering distraction.

The act of driving requires keen concentration as drivers must constantly be in tune with
factors such as their speed, surroundings, other drivers, roadway conditions and more.
Throw distractions into the mix such as texting or talking on the phone, and this act becomes
harder to do safely. Preliminary data for 2024 shows that in Florida, nearly 300 people
died and over 2,200 people suffered serious bodily injuries due to a distracted driver.

A distraction is anything that takes your hands off the wheel, your eyes off the road,
or your mind off the act of driving. While you may not think you are a distracted driver
because you do not engage in more well-known distractions such as texting, you may be engaging
in other distractions that put you, your passengers and others on the roadway at risk.
This might include, but is not limited to, listening to loud music, eating, engaging with
passengers or adjusting your vehicle’s entertainment or navigation system.

Just like the driver, passengers have a duty and responsibility to cultivate a safe
driving environment. As a passenger, refrain from distracting behaviors such as, but not
limited to, playing music loudly, shouting or talking loudly or unnecessarily directing
the driver’s attention to objects or events taking place outside the vehicle.

If the driver is engaging in distraction, you as a passenger have the right to speak up
and inform them their actions are dangerous. To remedy, offer to send a text, help with
navigation or make needed in-vehicle adjustments for them.

Every day, Florida’s law enforcement officers, first responders, service workers, citizens
and visitors find themselves along the side of the roadway. Whether they are doing their job,
providing or receiving assistance, or attending to a personal need, it is the duty of all other
motorists to obey the Florida Move Over Law and move over a lane or
slow down if moving over is not possible.

If you are driving distracted, it is difficult for you to perceive if something happening ahead
of you along the roadway requires moving over, slowing down or coming to a stop. Eliminate distraction
so you can protect those who protect you.

“When you engage in a distraction while behind the wheel, even briefly, you put your life and others’
on the roadway in danger,” said Executive Director Dave Kerner. “No matter how important a text,
call or other distraction may be, it can wait. Your primary focus should be ensuring you and your
passengers arrive to your destination safely.”

“Steering clear from distractions while driving prevents tragedies,” said FHP Colonel Gary
Howze II. “It is your duty and responsibility to stay alert and operate your vehicle in a vigilant manner each
time you drive. Distractions can wait, but the safety of you and those around you cannot.”

In Florida, texting and driving is a primary offense under
Florida’s Wireless
Communications While Driving Law ,
however, due to the nature of distracted driving as an offense,
citations can fall under various other statutes including
Careless Driving,
Failure to
Maintain a Single Lane and
Aggressive
Careless Driving. As a result, distracted
driving is often underreported. Even still, a crash occurs
every 44 seconds in Florida, and one in seven of those
crashes is the result of a distracted driver.

Drivers who receive one of the above citations due to
distracted driving can incur points on their driver license,
fines and court fees or worse. Don’t let your decision to
drive distracted be the reason someone does not arrive alive.

“We all play a role in creating safer roadways and that
starts with the choice to make responsible driving decisions,
such as putting away distractions, while behind the wheel,”
said Florida Department of Transportation Secretary
Jared W. Perdue, P.E. “Small actions can lead to
major strides in achieving our goal of eliminating serious
injuries and fatalities across Florida’s roadways.”

“Distracted Driving is anything that takes your attention
away from safe driving. Florida’s sheriffs are committed to
enforcing distracted driving laws to protect the public. We
ask you to take steps to eliminate distractions that could
lead to crashes. As President of the Florida Sheriffs
Association, I fully support the ‘Put It Down’ campaign
by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles,” stated Charlotte County Sheriff Bill
Prummell, President of the Florida Sheriffs Association.

“This Distracted Driving Awareness Month, the Florida
Police Chiefs Association (FPCA) urges drivers to be
“hands free” by connecting their devices to Bluetooth
in their vehicles and concentrating on the road,”
said FPCA President Charlie Vazquez, Chief of Police Tampa
International Airport “No call or text, no alert
from your social media accounts, is worth your life.
Please make the roads safer for everyone by choosing to
focus fully on driving.”

Next time you get behind the wheel, remember the
importance of driving distraction-free. For more
information on distracted driving, visit
FLHSMV’s distracted
driving webpage.