The chairman of the House subcommittee that deals with highway safety pledged Tuesday that the panel will take up legislation aimed at reducing distracted driving.
Rep. Brad Drake, R- Eucheeanna, said that he was open to considering a change in the law, or at least looking at the problem of driving while texting or doing other things.
Drake’s comments came after Rep. Irv Slosberg, a longtime advocate for more stringent driving safety laws, used the appearance in the committee of an official from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to raise the point that it remains legal to text and drive.
Slosberg, who often says he went into politics to make roads safer because of the death in a car crash of one of his daughters, asked HSMV legislative affairs director Stephen Fielder how many distracted driving tickets are given in a year by the Highway Patrol, which is overseen by the agency.
“None, because there is not a law prohibiting distracted driving,” Fielder acknowledged.
Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, said afterward that he intends to file legislation this year that would make it illegal for minors to text and drive, but probably not adults.
