I want to thank Mark Merwitzer, a Palmetto Bay resident and a founding member of our Palmetto Bay Youth Community Involvement Board (and a past Chair of the Youth Board) for his tenacious efforts on this anti-distracted driving initiative.
Also see a prior Guest Post from Mark Merwitzer: January 14, 2018, Guest Post - Mark Merwitzer - an advocate for safe roads - ending distracted driving
I am
beyond excited to announce the passage of House Bill 107 through the Florida
Legislature, and now is on its way to Governor DeSantis’s desk. Years of my
hard work, along with others, has finally paid off.
Debbie Wanninkhof / Mark Merwitzer |
After
three years of my appearances in multiple committees, working with multiple
elected officials, rallying support at a local level, and developing a
relationship with many Florida politicians, as well as many families who have
lost loved ones and then getting them involved, today is the day the Florida
Legislature finally passed a texting while driving ban with primary
enforcement.
Out of
50 states, 47 have laws to ban texting while driving as a primary offense.
Florida is not one of those yet, but Governor DeSantis will have the bill on
his desk within the next few days to make texting while driving a primary
offense. In addition, the bill would prohibit handheld cell phone use in school
and work zones. Currently Florida has a secondary offense which prohibits
police officers from giving tickets to texting drivers unless another
infraction is involved. Consequently, the roads are filled with people
distracted by their phones often resulting in accidents and fatalities. Safety
is the foremost concern for all, yet, Florida is currently lacking with this
commonsense legislation. That will change October 1st, when the new law takes
effect.
My
personal journey began three years ago when I was just 16 years old. I was
driving down the MacArthur Causeway with my dad after having lunch with my
grandmother. My dad was cursing at every car that went by for swerving in and
out of their lanes. I noticed that the vast majority of these drivers were on
their phone, totally oblivious to the road. It occurred to me that no one was
doing anything to address this massive road safety issue. When I got home and
did some research, not only did I find that Florida did not have a primary
enforcement law, but texting while driving impacts my generation the most.
So, I
got to work. I reached out to my local officials along with the local youth
councils -one of which I was the chair of- and asked them to do something about
this severe problem. Unfortunately, the issue is preempted to the state which
means that local governments cannot regulate texting while driving within their
own municipalities. So instead of enacting local laws, I am pleased to have worked
with many people such as Commissioner Daniella Levine Cava, Mayor Eugene Flinn, Mayor Cindy Lerner, and many others to have them all pass urgings (also known as
legislative requests) to the Florida Legislature and then lobby for the issue.
After
all of these urgings passed, I contacted Senator Rene Garcia with the help of
outgoing Senator de la Portilla and asked him to sponsor a texting while
driving ban in the Senate. Senator Rene Garcia agreed. Representative Slosberg
sponsored the bill in the House. Even though the bill did not pass the first
year, it was the very first time any kind of texting while driving bill
received a hearing since the secondary ban passed in 2013. It was also that
year when I traveled up to Tallahassee for the first time and presented the
bill before a Senate Committee. It was nerve racking for a then 16-year-old me.
I am extremely grateful to everyone who supported me in that first year.
The
next year is when things really got moving. After going up to Tallahassee
multiple times in 2018, the bill managed to get through the Florida House and
3/4 of the Senate committees. Unfortunately, the last committee chair, Rob
Bradley, refused to hear the bill. Senator Bradley single-handedly killed
the bill last year. That action devastated many families who lost loved ones
and went to Tallahassee to advocate for the bill.
However,
I was not discouraged at all and decided to keep up the good fight.
But, as
the saying goes, the third time's a charm. This year, I am grateful for the sponsorship
of Senate President Designee Wilton Simpson and the work of Representative
Jackie Toledo. With their sponsorships and the backing of a coalition of which
I am a part of, getting grieving parents on board, sacrificing my spring break,
talking to dozens of legislators, and appearing at almost every hearing for the
bill, we were finally able to get it done this year. I am so glad to see my
hard work finally pay off.
Thank
you to everyone involved for making our roads safer.
-Mark
Merwitzer
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