Mobile Device Usage While Driving: Florida

This Mobile Device Usage While Driving policy applies to employees who drive in Florida and is designed to support compliance with Florida's Wireless Communications While Driving Law (Fla. Stat. § 316.305), which restricts texting and other manual data entry while a vehicle is in motion. Setting clear expectations around phone use behind the wheel helps reduce distracted driving risk, protects employees and the public, and gives employees a consistent, practical standard when work-related calls, texts, navigation, and urgent messages come up on the road.

The History Behind Mobile Device Usage While Driving Policies in Florida

Florida employers started taking distracted driving seriously as a workplace risk as smartphones became constant companions and crash data kept pointing back to driver distraction. Florida lawmakers responded with a targeted ban in Fla. Stat. § 316.305, which prohibits drivers from manually typing, sending, or reading non-voice communications on a handheld wireless device while the vehicle is in motion.

The legal pressure increased in 2019 when Florida expanded enforcement to make texting while driving a primary offense. That change mattered because it made stops and citations more routine, and it made "everyone does it" a weaker defense when an employee gets ticketed in a company vehicle or while running a work errand. The statute also drew practical lines that show up in employer policies, like treating manual data entry and reading as the problem behavior, while leaving room for navigation and voice tools when they don't require typing or reading.

Civil liability has done the rest of the work. Plaintiffs' lawyers regularly frame distracted driving as a preventable choice, and employers can get pulled in through negligent entrustment, negligent supervision, or respondeat superior theories when driving is tied to the job. The same fact pattern emerges in demand letters and complaints: phone records, timestamps, and a crash reconstruction that makes the story feel obvious. A clear "mobile device usage while driving" policy became the cleanest way for Florida employers to set expectations, support discipline when needed, and show they took reasonable steps before the accident happened.

Which Law is the Mobile Device Usage While Driving Policy Meant to Comply With?

If you create and distribute a Mobile Device Usage While Driving Policy for your Florida-based employees, it is in an effort to comply with Florida's Wireless Communications While Driving Law (Fla. Stat. § 316.305).

How to Write a Florida-Specific Mobile Device Usage While Driving Policy

• Start with "why" and introduce the concept of driver safety, distraction prevention, and legal compliance in Florida.
• State the core Florida rule that employees can't type, send, or read non-voice messages on a handheld wireless device while driving.
• Ban texting, emailing, and manual data entry while operating a moving vehicle.
• Allow voice-activated use only when it doesn't involve reading or typing.
• Require employees to pull over and park before sending or reading messages.
• Address navigation by encouraging route setup before driving.
• Commit that your organization won't require employees to use a phone while driving.
• Assign responsibility to employees for following the policy and for any consequences of distracted driving.

When to Include this Policy in Your Employee Handbook

The law does not require you to publish a policy or issue a specific notice. That said, you still have to comply with the requirements that apply to you as an employer. 

This is a "depends on your workplace" policy. Include it if you offer the benefit, operate in a setting where this comes up, have a state-specific rule that differs from your national approach, or you've had issues in this area before. If you already have a clear all-employee policy that covers the same ground (and it meets Florida's requirements), you may not need a separate policy here. 

Other Considerations

The law applies to Florida employers who have at least 1 employee in the US.

Exceptions

There are situations where these legal requirements don't apply.

• Emergency and safety-related use:
  • Using a wireless device to report an emergency, including a crash, a crime, or a fire.
  • Using a wireless device while performing official duties as a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical services professional, or other authorized emergency vehicle operator.
• Vehicle status and operational context:
  • Using a wireless device while the vehicle is stationary (for example, stopped, standing, or parked).
• Work-related and specialized functions:
  • Using a wireless device for navigation.
  • Using a wireless device for safety-related information (for example, traffic, weather, or emergency alerts).
  • Using a wireless device to communicate with your company's dispatch system.