Articles Posted in Car Accidents

If you live and drive in Florida, a new law will soon take effect and it can have a dramatic effect on how you drive.

On May 17 Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the ‘Wireless Communication While Driving’ bill into law that would make driving while texting a primary offense. Before this bill, Florida was only one of a handful of states that had texting while driving not as a primary offense. That meant that police had to have another reason (such as speeding) for pulling over a person and ticketing them. With the new law, police will now be given the power to pull people over if and when they see people texting while driving.

The bill will kick into effect on July 1. However, the Florida legislature is giving drivers some time to get used to the new law. Police will not fine those they pull over for texting while driving until January of next year – they will just issue a warning. Once the fines kick in next year, a first violation will land a person a $30 fine plus court costs and fees. Subsequent violations within 5 years of the first violation carries a heavier fine of $60 plus court costs and fees. The bill will also prohibit people from using handheld wireless communications devices in construction and school zones.

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month in Florida, and the Sunshine State badly needs it. In a 2017 study, Florida ranks second in the country for distracted driving, only coming in behind Louisiana. This is from the online insurance firm EverQuote. The study analyzed approximately 2.7 million vehicle trips, which accounted for over 230 million miles driven.

In the study, drivers were given a device called the EverDrive, which is a type of motion-sensing app. This device measures a person’s speed, acceleration, and turning while the driver’s phone is being used. It can tell whether a person speeds, turns aggressively, or banks hard.

The device, however, does not measure movements while the phone is in sleep mode or while it is being used with a hands-free device.

For years now various car companies have been developing the technology for automated cars. What was once a long-away dream, may soon be reality.

In an article, the South Florida Sun Sentinel explored just how drivers in Southern Florida would be affected by the new technologies. Driverless cars will affect everything from the width of the driving lanes to speed limits. Due to the driverless cars’ technology, driving lanes will become narrower, there will be fewer public parking lots, speed limits will increase, there will be flyover ramps at intersections, and there may even be more shortcuts through neighborhoods.

The reason for this is that all of the automated cars will be able to not just communicate with each other, but also with the traffic signals and roads. All of this technology will be used to prevent accidents with other vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles, and anything else (like deer or fallen tree branches).

In August 2018, Miami drivers were introduced to Diverging Diamond Interchanges. It began on NW 27^th Avenue and State Road 836 (Dolphin Expressway). The second area for implementation is NW 57^th Avenue and the Dolphin Expressway (SR 836) which will come in the next few months. At the present time, DDI’s are also planned for five locations in Broward County. All of the Broward Diverging Diamond Interchanges will be installed at the intersections of the Sawgrass Expressway and:

• Sunrise Boulevard
• Oakland Park Boulevard