{"id":268199,"date":"2026-05-12T16:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268199\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T16:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T16:37:09","slug":"can-i-use-my-phone-at-a-red-light-in-florida-heres-what-the-law-says-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/268199\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I use my phone at a red light in Florida? Here\u2019s what the law says"},"content":{"rendered":"

It shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise that distracted driving is a dangerous habit, responsible for thousands of deaths in the U.S., according to the NHTSA<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a big part of why Florida law prohibits drivers from texting while they\u2019re behind the wheel \u2014 at least, in most cases.<\/p>\n

A report from our sister station in Orlando WKMG took a closer look at the rules. <\/a><\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s \u201cBan on Texting While Driving Law<\/a>\u201d prohibits drivers from doing tasks like typing or reading messages while actively driving their vehicles.<\/p>\n

However, when drivers are stopped at a red light, the vehicles aren\u2019t considered in \u201coperation,\u201d so drivers can legally use their phones until it turns green again.<\/p>\n

That being said, this all goes out the window when it comes to driving in a school or active work zone, as using your phone in these areas while behind the wheel is entirely prohibited<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CAN I TALK ON THE PHONE WHILE DRIVING?<\/p>\n

Yes, so long as you do so hands-free. <\/p>\n

That means that you can use your car\u2019s Bluetooth speaker or even put your phone on speakerphone; just don\u2019t use your hands to call while your vehicle is in motion.<\/p>\n

Below are a few other exceptions where drivers can use their phones while driving under state law:<\/p>\n

When driving as an emergency responder<\/p>\n

Reporting an emergency or criminal activity to law enforcement<\/p>\n

Receiving messages related to emergency, traffic or weather alerts<\/p>\n

Using a GPS or other navigation system<\/p>\n

Operating an autonomous vehicle<\/p>\n

WHAT ARE THE PENALTIES FOR BREAKING THESE RULES?<\/p>\n

Under state law, any violations will be met with a $30 fine, not including other court costs and fees.<\/p>\n

But drivers who violate the rules again within five years can expect to see that figure ramped up to $60.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It shouldn\u2019t come as a surprise that distracted driving is a dangerous habit, responsible for thousands of deaths…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,712,115199,729],"class_list":["post-268199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-law","tag-texting-while-driving","tag-traffic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}