Miami-Dade
Legislative Item File Number: 102214 |
Printable PDF Format Clerk's Official Copy |
File Number: 102214 | File Type: Resolution | Status: Adopted | ||||||||||||||
Version: 0 | Reference: R-950-10 | Control: Board of County Commissioners | ||||||||||||||
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Requester: NONE | Cost: | Final Action: 9/21/2010 | ||||||||||||||
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Sunset Provision: No | Effective Date: | Expiration Date: |
Registered Lobbyist: | None Listed |
Legislative History |
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Acting Body | Date | Agenda Item | Action | Sent To | Due Date | Returned | Pass/Fail |
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Board of County Commissioners | 9/21/2010 | 11A1 | Adopted | P | |||
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County Attorney | 9/9/2010 | Assigned | Jess M. McCarty | 9/9/2010 | |||
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Legislative Text |
TITLE RESOLUTION URGING THE FLORIDA LEGISLATURE TO PROHIBIT TALKING, TEXTING OR OTHERWISE USING MOBILE PHONES AND OTHER WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES WHILE DRIVING UNLESS OPERATED WITH A HANDS-FREE DEVICE BODY WHEREAS, in the fall of 2001, Miami-Dade County became the first county in the State of Florida to pass an ordinance restricting the use of mobile phones while driving; and WHEREAS, shortly thereafter in the spring of 2002, the Florida Legislature preempted the Miami-Dade ordinance, along with all local government regulation of mobile phones and other wireless communication devices (collectively �mobile phones�) while driving; and WHEREAS, it is estimated that over 234 million people in the U.S. currently use mobile phones, compared with less than 5 million in 1990; and WHEREAS, increased use of mobile phones has led to a substantial rise in the number of people who use these devices while driving; and WHEREAS, dangers associated with using mobile phones while driving are two fold: 1. Drivers may become so absorbed in their mobile phone conversations that their ability to concentrate on driving is impaired; and 2. Drivers may take their eyes off the road while dialing, texting and reading or writing emails; and WHEREAS, these dangers have the potential to jeopardize the safety of vehicle occupants, other drivers and pedestrians; and WHEREAS, a 2003 study at the University of Utah concluded that drivers talking on mobile phones exhibited greater impairment than drivers that were intoxicated; and WHEREAS, eight states and the District of Columbia currently prohibit the use of mobile phones while driving unless a hands free device is used; and WHEREAS, texting while driving is generally considered to be even more dangerous than talking on a mobile phone while driving; and WHEREAS, 30 states and the District of Columbia currently ban texting while driving, with 11 of the 30 states passing bans on texting while driving in 2010; and WHEREAS, Florida is one of only six states that has preempted local governments from regulating talking and texting while driving while at the same time imposing no statewide regulation of talking on mobile phones or texting while driving; and WHEREAS, bills have been filed in the Florida Legislature each year over the past decade that would ban talking or texting or both while driving, but none of these bills have passed; and WHEREAS, 18 separate bills were filed for consideration during the 2010 state legislative session that took various approaches to prohibiting persons from talking, texting or otherwise using wireless communication devices while driving except when using a hands-free device, but none of these bills passed; and WHEREAS, Florida should join the other 30 states that ban texting while driving and the other eight state that ban talking on mobile phones while driving unless a hands free device is used, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board: Section 1. Urges the Florida Legislature to prohibit all persons from talking, texting or otherwise using mobile phones and other wireless communication devices while driving except when using a hands-free device. Section 2. Directs the Clerk of the Board to transmit a certified copy of this resolution to the Governor, Senate President, House Speaker, and the Chair and Members of the Miami-Dade County State Legislative Delegation. Section 3. Directs the County's state lobbyists to advocate for the passage of the legislation set forth in Section 1 above, and directs that the 2011 State Legislative Package be amended to include this item. |
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