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By Tiffanie Reynolds Staff Writer

The Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law, signed by Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday, gives Osceola County law enforcement the power to combat the biggest distraction on the road.

The law makes texting while driving a secondary offense. This means that after pulling a driver over for reckless driving, speeding, or any other offense, the officer also can add points to the drivers license if texting was linked to the first offense. Officers also can search cell phone records if the accident resulted in an injury or death.

Texting while driving is a known danger to the public. This law will help us to enforce and educate those offenders in an attempt to make our roadways safer, said Osceola Sheriff Bob Hansell.

Before the law, there was very little law enforcement could do to specifically crack down on texting while driving. In many incidents, officers only could write down the cause as a distraction. With this new law, officers will have a small foothold in reducing this distraction, and also opens the state to stricter laws concerning cell phone use while driving in the future.

As a father and a grandfather, texting while driving is something that concerns me when my loved ones are on the road. The 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day are known as the deadliest days on the road for teenagers. We must do everything we can at the state level to keep our teenagers and everyone on our roads safe. I cannot think of a better time to officially sign this bill into law, said Gov. Rick Scott in a press release on Tuesday.

A driver who texts while on the road is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a driver that doesnt text, according to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute.

And cell phone distraction also counts for 18 percent of fatalities on the road, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law will be go into effect Oct. 1.

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Authorities ready to enforce texting law