Linda Stewart for Orange County Mayor

“This has become one of our top public safety issues,” Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart said.

Florida lawmakers tried and failed to pass a ban on text messaging while driving three years in a row, even though studies show people who text and drive are 20 times more likely to cause crashes than non-distracted drivers. However, in 2010 lawmakers will try again and Eyewitness News learned they believe it will pass this time, because 11 lawmakers all over Florida have drafted bills outlawing texting while driving.The final push will come in March when a final bill will be drafted, and then possibly approved.

Many people are guilty of texting and driving.  “Yes. I have,” one driver told Eyewitness News.  “Yes. I think everyone has done that,” another driver said.

Texting has become a common driving practice.  “This has become one of our top public safety issues,” Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart said.  “We know from seeing how drivers behave behind the wheel that texting is a dangerous thing to do,” Sgt. Kim Montes of the Florida Highway Patrol said.

It’s so dangerous, that people are 20 times more likely to cause a crash when texting. Troopers say a driver can travel the length of a football field or more from the time he looks down at his phone, punches a few keys and then looks up.  Now, Florida leaders want to ban it statewide.  In 2008, a truck driver rear-ended a school bus in Marion County, killing 13-year-old Frances Schee. The bus was stopped and letting kids off at the time of the crash and driver Reinaldo Gonzalez admitted to investigators he was on his cell phone.

“By addressing it statewide, is a better approach than county by county,” Stewart said.  Leaders in Tallahassee will discuss the proposals in March and then consolidate them into one bill that would have to be approved by the Florida House and Senate before it becomes law.  The Florida Highway Patrol would begin to enforce it after that and they agency knows how it would be able to do that. Troopers already have the ability to pull cell phone records to aid in crash investigations.  “We are able to track whether they were on the phone or whether they were texting,” Montes said.  Fines for texting while driving would be determined before a final bill is drafted.

“If you need to communicate with someone urgently, pull over, do it safely,” Stewart said.  Federal law outlaws the practice for vehicles carrying heavy loads. This law would be the first of its kind in Florida.  Currently, the state has no distracted driving laws, which means police can't ticket a driver if they get into an accident while talking on their cell phone, eating or texting.