If you drive in Florida, you have probably heard conflicting things about what the state’s distracted driving law actually covers. Some drivers believe Florida already bans holding a phone behind the wheel altogether. Others assume nothing was proposed or changed this year. Neither is accurate.
Florida distracted driving law currently prohibits texting and similar nonvoice communication while a vehicle is in motion, and it separately restricts handheld phone use in school zones, school crossings, and active work zones. During the 2026 legislative session, two bills would have expanded those handheld restrictions statewide. Both died in committee before reaching a floor vote.
For drivers in Boynton Beach and across South Florida, where heavy traffic and pedestrian activity make distraction especially costly, knowing the difference between what is already illegal and what lawmakers tried and failed to change matters well beyond a traffic stop. It can also matter after a crash, when evidence of a driver’s phone use becomes part of a personal injury claim.
Key takeaways
- Florida bans texting and other nonvoice communication on a wireless device while driving statewide, and this ban is a primary offense, meaning an officer can stop a driver for this violation alone.
- Florida does not have a general, statewide ban on holding a phone while driving. Handheld device restrictions currently apply only in designated school crossings, school zones, and active work zones.
- Fines and license points differ depending on the specific violation, whether it is a repeat offense, and whether the violation is connected to a crash.
- Two 2026 bills, Senate Bill 1152 and House Bill 1241, proposed expanding Florida’s handheld phone restrictions. Both died in committee in March 2026, and neither became law.
- A traffic citation for distracted driving and civil liability for causing a crash are related but legally separate questions.
What Florida distracted driving law actually prohibits today
Florida distracted driving law, codified at Florida Statute section 316.305, prohibits a driver from manually typing or entering letters, numbers, symbols, or other characters into a wireless communications device, or from sending or reading data on that device for the purpose of nonvoice interpersonal communication, while the vehicle is in motion. In practice, this covers texting, emailing, and instant messaging behind the wheel. A vehicle that is stationary, such as one stopped at a red light, is not considered to be in operation for purposes of this specific prohibition.
What counts as nonvoice interpersonal communication
The law targets communication that requires manually entering or reading text based content: texting, direct messages, emails typed while driving, and similar activity. It does not turn on which app is being used. Typing a message through a texting app, a social media app, or an email client while a vehicle is in motion falls under the same prohibition.
What the law does not prohibit
Section 316.305 includes specific exceptions. A driver may use a wireless device to report an emergency to law enforcement, to receive messages related to the safe operation of the vehicle such as safety, traffic, or weather alerts, or for navigation purposes. Voice communication that does not require manually entering multiple characters is not restricted, which is why placing or answering a phone call by voice is not, by itself, a violation of this section. Drivers operating a vehicle with an engaged autonomous driving system, and on-duty emergency personnel, are also exempt.
Texting ban versus handheld phone ban: the distinction most people miss
Most of the confusion around Florida distracted driving law comes from treating section 316.305 and section 316.306 as the same rule. They are not. Section 316.305 restricts what a driver does with a wireless device: typing, sending, or reading text based communication. It applies everywhere in Florida, at all times, regardless of whether the phone is mounted, resting in a cup holder, or held in the driver’s hand.
Section 316.306 works differently. It restricts how a driver holds the device, not what the driver is doing with it, and only within designated school crossings, school zones, and active work zones. Under this section, holding a phone to make a voice call, check a map without using voice commands, or scroll through an app can all violate the law inside one of those zones, even though none of that activity would violate the texting ban under section 316.305 on an ordinary stretch of road.
Put together, a handheld cell phone ban in Florida exists, but only as a zone specific rule rather than a general statewide prohibition. Outside a school crossing, school zone, or active work zone, holding a phone to talk is legal. Typing a text message is not, regardless of location.
Handheld device rules in school crossings, school zones, and active work zones
Inside a marked school crossing, school zone, or active work zone where construction or maintenance personnel are present, Florida law prohibits using a wireless communications device in a handheld manner while driving. This covers cell phones, tablets, laptops, two way messaging devices, and similar devices, and it applies to any handheld use, not only texting.
The same exceptions available under the general texting law apply here as well. Drivers may still use a device to report an emergency, to receive safety, traffic, or weather alerts, or to operate hands free or voice activated navigation and communication features. Vehicles with an engaged autonomous driving system and on duty emergency vehicle operators are also exempt.
A first time violation of this zone specific rule offers drivers a way to avoid the fine and points: completing an approved driving safety course, or providing proof that the driver has since purchased or acquired hands free equipment for the device. Either option can result in the case being dismissed upon proof, with only court costs due. That option is not available for every repeat violation, and the underlying safety issue remains the same regardless of how the citation is ultimately resolved.
Is texting while driving a primary offense in Florida?
Yes. Florida law specifically authorizes law enforcement officers to stop a vehicle and issue a citation for texting while driving on its own, without needing another reason for the stop. This makes Florida’s texting ban a primary offense rather than a secondary one that could only be added to a citation for some other violation.
The handheld restriction in school and work zones works as its own independent violation as well. An officer who observes a driver holding a phone inside a marked zone does not need a separate justification for the stop beyond that observation. In both cases, the practical effect for South Florida drivers is the same: a phone visibly in hand in the wrong place, or a thumb visibly typing on the road, can be enough on its own to result in a citation.
This has not always been the case. Before July 1, 2019, Florida’s texting ban could only be enforced as a secondary offense, meaning an officer needed another valid reason to stop the vehicle before adding a texting citation. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced the change to primary enforcement effective that date. Older articles or statute summaries that describe Florida’s texting law as secondary only are describing law that is no longer current.
Fines and license points for distracted driving in Florida
Fines and license points for a distracted driving citation depend on which law was violated, whether it is a repeat offense, and whether the violation is connected to a crash. Florida Statute chapter 318 sets the base fine schedule, and section 322.27 sets the point schedule, so the specific numbers below come from those statutes rather than from section 316.305 or 316.306 themselves.
First and second texting violations
A first violation of the texting ban under section 316.305 is a nonmoving violation, carrying a $30 base fine under section 318.18. No license points are assessed for a first offense under this section alone. A second or subsequent violation within five years is reclassified as a moving violation, carrying a $60 base fine. Because section 316.305 is not separately listed in Florida’s point schedule, a second texting conviction falls under the catch all category for other moving violations, which carries three points.
Handheld violations in school and work zones
A violation of the handheld device restriction under section 316.306 is treated as a moving violation from the first offense, carrying a $60 base fine and three points under section 322.27. First time offenders have two ways to avoid that outcome. A driver can complete an approved wireless communications device driving safety program, after which the court may waive the fine and must waive the points. Alternatively, a driver who shows the clerk of court proof that they have since purchased hands free equipment for their device can have the case dismissed and pay only court costs, handled as a nonmoving infraction cost. Neither option is available in the same way for a second violation.
When a crash is involved, points increase
Florida’s point schedule assesses six points, rather than three, when unlawful use of a wireless communications device results in a crash. This applies regardless of whether it is a first or subsequent offense. Separately, if a driver commits another moving violation, such as speeding, while also unlawfully using a wireless device inside a school safety zone, two additional points are added on top of whatever points that other violation already carries. These crash and school zone provisions are part of why a single distracted driving incident can carry more serious consequences than the base texting or handheld fine might suggest.
Statutory exceptions drivers should know
Florida’s distracted driving statutes carve out specific situations where using a wireless device does not violate the law. These exceptions apply consistently to both the texting ban and the handheld restriction in school and work zones:
- Reporting an emergency, criminal activity, or hazardous road condition to law enforcement or emergency services.
- Receiving messages related to the safe operation of the vehicle, including safety, traffic, or weather alerts.
- Using the device for navigation purposes.
- Voice communication that does not require manually typing or entering multiple characters, such as placing or answering a phone call.
- Operating a vehicle equipped with an autonomous driving system while that system is engaged.
- On duty operation of an authorized emergency vehicle.
These exceptions explain why a driver can lawfully glance at a phone mounted for turn by turn navigation, yet still violate the law by typing a text message on the exact same drive.
What Florida lawmakers proposed in 2026
During the 2026 legislative session, two related bills would have expanded Florida’s handheld phone restrictions well beyond the current school and work zone rule. Neither bill became law, and understanding what each one actually proposed helps explain why South Florida drivers should not assume a broader statewide ban is already in place.
SB 1152: a straightforward statewide handheld ban
Senate Bill 1152, filed by Senator Erin Grall, proposed a direct approach. It would have prohibited operating a motor vehicle while using a wireless communications device in a handheld manner statewide, required drivers to use hands free accessories for sustained device use, and authorized law enforcement to stop and cite a driver for handheld use on its own, without requiring any other traffic violation. In that respect, it was closer to the hands free laws already in effect in dozens of other states. The bill carried a proposed effective date of October 1, 2026, had it passed.
CS/HB 1241: hands-free driving tied to careless driving
The House version, CS/HB 1241, started with a similar goal but changed significantly once it reached committee. The committee substitute did not ban handheld use outright. Instead, it added a handheld device penalty, a $60 fine and one license point, that would only apply to a driver already cited for careless driving. A first time offender could avoid that added penalty by completing a driving safety program. The bill also included provisions allowing wireless device billing records to be used as evidence in crashes involving death or serious injury, and it directed additional fine revenue to the state’s Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund.
How the two proposals differed
The practical difference mattered. SB 1152 would have made handheld use itself the violation, enforceable on its own. CS/HB 1241, as amended in committee, made handheld use an add-on penalty that only applied once a driver was already being cited for careless driving, a separate and more serious offense to prove. Safety advocates who had pushed for a hands free law argued this weakened the bill’s deterrent effect substantially. Demetrius Branca, whose son died in a distracted driving crash, testified that tying enforcement to careless driving lets drivers adjust to where enforcement actually occurs rather than to the underlying risk of the behavior. Michelle Avola of Hands Free Florida put it more directly, telling lawmakers the substitute version was no longer a genuine hands free bill.
What happened, and what it means for drivers now
Both bills died in committee on the same day, March 13, 2026, without reaching a floor vote in either chamber. SB 1152 died in the Senate Transportation Committee. CS/HB 1241 died in the House State Affairs Committee. Neither measure became law.
For Florida drivers, this means the law described earlier in this article, the statewide texting ban under section 316.305 and the zone specific handheld restriction under section 316.306, remains the current, complete picture. There is no broader statewide handheld phone ban in effect in Florida as of this writing, despite the attention these bills received during the session.
How distracted driving can become relevant to a Florida car accident claim
A traffic citation and a personal injury claim are related, but they are not the same thing, and one does not automatically establish the other. A citation for texting or handheld phone use means a law enforcement officer determined a specific traffic law was violated. A personal injury claim requires proving the elements of negligence: that the other driver owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and that the breach caused the crash and the resulting damages.
Evidence that a driver was texting, on a call, or otherwise distracted at the time of a crash can support the breach and causation elements of a negligence claim. Florida drivers are generally expected to use reasonable care behind the wheel, and evidence of distraction can help show that a driver failed to meet that standard. Even so, this evidence does not, by itself, guarantee a particular outcome or compensation amount. Every claim still depends on the full set of facts, including how the crash actually happened, what injuries resulted, and what other evidence exists.
Florida also applies modified comparative negligence under Florida Statute section 768.81. Under the current standard, effective since March 2023, an injured person who is found more than fifty percent at fault for their own harm cannot recover damages, and a person found fifty percent or less at fault has their recovery reduced by their own percentage of fault. This cuts both ways in a distracted driving case. Evidence that the other driver was distracted can support an injured person’s claim, but evidence that the injured person was also distracted, speeding, or otherwise careless can reduce or eliminate what they are able to recover. This is one of several reasons every case should be evaluated on its specific facts rather than assumptions about who was at fault.
How distracted driving gets investigated after a crash
Proving distraction after a crash usually requires more than a driver’s own account of what happened. Several categories of evidence can help establish what occurred in the moments before a collision, though none of them work in isolation, and each comes with real limitations.
Wireless device billing records
Florida Statute section 316.305 specifically addresses this evidence. Only when a crash results in death or personal injury, a driver’s wireless communications device billing records, or testimony or written statements from the parties who received a message, may be admissible as evidence in a proceeding to determine whether a texting violation occurred. This is a narrow, crash specific rule rather than a general right to review anyone’s phone. Billing records are typically obtained through the legal process, such as a subpoena issued during litigation, rather than handed over directly to an attorney on request.
What billing records can and cannot show
Billing records can often show that a call or text was sent or received at a specific time, which can be compared against the timeline of a crash. They are more limited than many people assume. They generally do not show the content of a message, and they do not reliably show which app a driver was using on mobile data, since a data connection can reflect many different types of background activity that has nothing to do with the driver’s attention. Billing records also cannot show, by themselves, who was physically holding or operating the device, which matters when a passenger had access to the same phone. For these reasons, billing records typically work best as one piece of evidence that gets weighed alongside everything else, not as standalone proof of distraction.
Witness statements, driver admissions, and police reports
A responding officer’s crash report often includes observations made at the scene, any citation issued, and statements from the drivers and witnesses. A driver who admits to texting or talking at the time of the crash, or a witness who saw a phone in the driver’s hand immediately before impact, can be significant. Evidence gathered at the scene of a car accident often becomes harder to obtain the longer it takes to start looking for it, which is part of why prompt investigation matters.
Vehicle data, surveillance, and photographs
Many newer vehicles log data through onboard systems, which can sometimes show whether a phone was connected by Bluetooth or whether hands free features were active at the time of a crash. Surveillance footage from nearby businesses, traffic camera footage where a camera happens to be present, and photographs or video taken by witnesses or the drivers themselves can all help reconstruct what happened leading up to a collision. Not every crash location has camera coverage, and not every piece of potential evidence still exists by the time an investigation begins, which is why preserving what is available quickly matters. As with billing records, obtaining vehicle data or footage held by a third party generally requires a formal request or legal process rather than simply asking, so identifying what likely exists early in a case can matter as much as the evidence itself.
Practical steps if you believe a distracted driver caused your crash
If you suspect the other driver in your crash was texting, on the phone, or otherwise distracted, a few steps taken early can make a meaningful difference in how well that suspicion can later be supported with evidence.
- Make sure a police report is filed, and ask the responding officer to document anything relevant you or witnesses observed about the other driver’s phone use.
- Get contact information from anyone who witnessed the crash, since their account may be difficult to recover later if you wait.
- Take photographs of the scene, both vehicles, and anything else that might be relevant, including the position of a phone if it is visible.
- Seek appropriate medical evaluation and follow through on recommended treatment, both for your health and because medical documentation matters to any claim you may have.
- Be cautious about giving a recorded statement to an insurance company before you understand your rights and how the statement may be used.
- Avoid posting details about the crash on social media while your claim is still developing.
- Speak with a personal injury attorney before assuming fault, accepting an early settlement offer, or concluding that nothing can be done. Understanding how a Florida car accident claim generally works can help you evaluate next steps with realistic expectations.
Not every case involving a distracted driver results in a straightforward claim, and the specific facts always matter. An early conversation with an attorney can help clarify what evidence exists, what it may be worth pursuing, and what the realistic path forward looks like.
Florida distracted driving law: frequently asked questions
Is Florida a hands-free state?
No, not generally. Florida bans texting and nonvoice communication while driving statewide, and it bans handheld device use specifically within school crossings, school zones, and active work zones. It does not currently ban holding a phone to talk anywhere else in the state. Two 2026 bills would have moved Florida closer to a broader hands-free law, but both died in committee.
Is it illegal to hold a phone while driving in Florida?
Only in specific locations. Holding a phone to talk while driving is legal outside of designated school crossings, school zones, and active work zones. Inside those zones, using a device in a handheld manner is prohibited regardless of whether the driver is texting, talking, or using an app.
Is texting and driving illegal in Florida?
Yes. Manually typing, sending, or reading text based communication on a wireless device while a vehicle is in motion is illegal statewide under Florida Statute section 316.305.
Can police pull you over for texting while driving in Florida?
Yes. Texting while driving is a primary offense in Florida, meaning an officer can stop a driver for this violation alone, without needing another reason for the stop.
What is the fine for texting while driving in Florida?
A first violation carries a $30 base fine as a nonmoving violation. A second violation within five years carries a $60 base fine as a moving violation and typically results in three license points. Fines connected to a crash, or to handheld use in a school or work zone, can involve different amounts and additional points.
Can cell phone records prove distracted driving after an accident?
They can help, but they have real limits. Billing records may become admissible when a crash results in death or personal injury, and they can show that a call or text occurred around the time of the crash. They generally do not show the content of a message or conclusively prove who was holding the phone, so they typically work alongside other evidence rather than standing alone.
What happens if a distracted driver causes an accident in Florida?
The distracted driver may face a traffic citation, and separately, the people they injured may have grounds for a personal injury claim if the evidence supports a negligence claim under Florida law. These are related but distinct processes. A more detailed look at proving a distracted driving case covers how that evidence gets built out once a claim moves forward.
Talk to a South Florida car accident attorney about a distracted driving crash
If you were injured in a crash and you believe the other driver was distracted, texting, or otherwise not paying attention, Bodden and Bennett Law Group can help you look into what actually happened. That often starts with investigating and preserving the evidence discussed above before it disappears, understanding what your legal rights are under Florida law, and evaluating whether the facts support a personal injury claim. Not every distracted driving accident results in a valid claim, and every case depends on its own facts, but you do not have to sort through that on your own.
Our car accident attorneys and broader personal injury practice work with clients throughout Boynton Beach and South Florida to understand their options and pursue fair compensation when the facts and Florida law support it.
Contact us today for a FREE case evaluation to protect your rights.
This article provides general information about Florida law and is not legal advice. Reading this article or contacting the firm does not, by itself, create an attorney-client relationship.
