Uncertainty as text ban nears

Photo by Intel Free Press courtesy of Creative Commons.

Carlos Coba/Staff writer

Twenty-five percent of American teens respond to a text message at least once each time they drive, according to the U.S. government’s official website for distracted driving.

Judging by that statistic, texting while driving should be a common sight at the University. When Assistant Chief of FIU Police Alphonse Ianniello was asked if he saw any texting while driving around campus, he said he personally did not.

However, students said they witness their peers texting and driving often.

“I see people texting and driving all the time on campus,” said Roberto Lopez, junior computer science major. “It’s usually in the parking garages, which is especially bad considering the amount of blind corners as well as the pedestrians you see walking around all the time.









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On October 1, 2013, Senate Bill 52 will make texting while operating a moving vehicle a secondary offense. This means that a driver can be fined for texting while committing a moving traffic violation, a primary offense.

First time offenders will receive a $30 fine. A driver who is fined for a second time within five years will receive a $60 fine and accumulate up to three points on his or her license.

Some people question the bill’s effectiveness because of the complications behind determining whether a driver was actually using their phone to text at the time of the infraction.

“How would police officers differentiate between a message received at the same time [that was] not read, and one that [is] actually answered at the time?” said Andrea Padrón, senior biology major.

The bill’s answer to this question is to check phone records when the driver challenges the officer’s claim that he or she was texting while committing a moving violation.

Section 1, part 6(c) of SB52 says that during the process of determining whether a driver was typing any text while driving, authorities may use billing records from the driver’s phone or use evidence from the “appropriate authorities receiving such messages.”

Under very specific circumstances, one’s phone bill records may be used as evidence in a Florida traffic court.

Requesting such private documents comes into place if one decides to go to court to challenge the ticket and is able to prove that no text went through at the time of the infraction. In that case, it is a question for the judge to decide.

“A police officer couldn’t get your records unless they are subpoenaed by a judge, which might seem excessive when dealing with a secondary offense,” said Dan Dawson, press secretary of the Florida Senate’s Majority Office.

As unlikely as the court submission of one’s private communications might be, the topic of the invasion of privacy is currently a popular topic since the National Security Agency’s methods of communications surveillance were recently publicized.

Virginia Easley Johnson P.A., managing partner and practicing attorney at Foley & Mansfield in Miami believes the bill does not invade anyone’s privacy.

“Invasion of privacy is the government’s intrusion into one’s personal life without just cause,” said Easley Johnson. “Because it is now illegal to text and drive, the State would need those records to prove the charge, as the police officer couldn’t personally testify as to what the driver was actually doing on the phone.”

The situation would differ if texting and driving was a primary offense and an officer could issue a citation for simply catching a driver using his or her cell phone’s keypad while driving.

Assistant Chief Ianniello believes that texting while driving will one day be a primary offense.

“I think that texting while driving will be treated just like wearing a seatbelt,” said Ianniello. “At first, I couldn’t just pull you over for not wearing one, but that changed and that’s the common process.”

The law is one that, in theory, will help drivers think before they text. How law enforcement will use it and how the courts interpret privacy rights remains to be seen.

“Enforcing it be could be very problematic,” said Cody Taffet, a senior anthropology major. “I don’t see any other way to deter people from texting while driving.”

– news@fiusm.com