BN9 Exclusive Poll: Texting and driving ban gets big support

A new, exclusive Florida Decides Poll finds a solid majority of Floridians support a ban on texting behind the wheel.

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An exclusive statewide poll conducted by Bay News 9/News 13/Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald found voters favored a law banning drivers from texting 71 percent to 27 percent. Only 2 percent were undecided.

Sen. Nancy Detert, R- Venice, is pushing for the passage of Senate Bill 416, which would prohibit texting while operating a motor vehicle. Thursday, the bill passed its third committee by a vote of 14-1. It now moves on to the Senate budget committee.

Similar bills have been introducted in previous years but have been killed.

It seems the support is somewhat divided by gender. More women supported a ban, 74 percent, compared to 69 percent of men. But, there is a large difference when the numbers are broken down by age, with significantly more older individuals supporting a ban. The poll showed 77 percent of people 65 and older would like to make texting while driving illegal, compared to 62 percent of the 18 to 34 age group.

The idea also had more support from black voters than white or Hispanic voters, and from Democrats than Republicans or independents.

Regionally, Central Florida had the lowest support for a ban, with 69 percent. Southwest Florida had the highest, with 78 percent of voters favoring a texting ban.

The ban, though, could still have a long way to go. Currently, the House companion bill has not come up for discussion and is currently not on any committee schedules.

The telephone survey of 800 registered Florida voters -- all likely to vote in the general election -- was conducted Jan. 24-26 for the Tampa Bay Times, Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald, Bay News 9 and Central Florida News 13. The poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, a nonpartisan, Jacksonville-based company. The margin of error overall is 3.5 percentage points.

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Poll Results

QUESTION: Do you support or oppose banning drivers from text messaging while operating a motor vehicle in Florida?

	Support	Oppose	Undecided
STATE	71%	27%	2%
REGION	Support	Oppose	Undecided
North Florida	70%	27%	3%
Central Florida	69%	30%	1%
Tampa Bay	72%	27%	1%
Southwest Florida	78%	22%	--
Southeast Florida	70%	28%	2%
SEX	Support	Oppose	Undecided
Men	69%	30%	1%
Women	74%	24%	2%
RACE	Support	Oppose	Undecided
White	70%	28%	2%
Black	81%	18%	1%
Hispanic	68%	30%	2%
PARTY	Support	Oppose	Undecided
Democrat	78%	21%	1%
Republican	66%	32%	2%
Independent	66%	29%	5%