Florida officials are turning up the heat on distracted drivers, rolling out a statewide "Put It Down" campaign as new crash numbers show phone and screen distractions climbing again to their worst level since 2021. The push combines tougher, more visible enforcement with a monthlong education blitz for April’s Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
Fresh tallies out of Tallahassee show more than 52,900 distracted-driving crashes in 2025, leading to over 2,100 serious injuries and more than 300 deaths, the state’s highest distracted-driving death total since 2021, according to Tampa Free Press. Officials say texting is the most common problem, but ordinary in-car distractions like eating, fiddling with navigation or adjusting the stereo still account for a big share of the wrecks.
State data and the "Put It Down" campaign
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the Florida Highway Patrol are leading the effort, noting that a crash happens somewhere in Florida every 44 seconds and that roughly one in seven of those involves a distracted driver. "When you engage in a distraction while behind the wheel, even briefly, you put your life and others' on the roadway in danger," FLHSMV Executive Director Dave Kerner said in the department's release. The agency also points to the 2019 Wireless Communications While Driving law, which made texting while driving a primary offense that officers can pull drivers over for, according to FLHSMV.
Younger drivers are overrepresented
Young motorists keep showing up in the crash logs at rates that worry safety officials. Drivers under 30 accounted for nearly 40% of distracted-driving crashes in recent state figures, with crash rates highest among 20- to 24-year-olds, per reporting that cites state data. Safety advocates point to heavy smartphone use, nonstop notifications and passenger influence as likely culprits and say they are tailoring more outreach directly to younger drivers, per Villages-News.
Enforcement and the legal debate
The campaign blends awareness with a visible show of force on the roads. As Tampa Free Press reported, troopers will be out in increased numbers through the end of April to both educate motorists and enforce hands-free rules. At the same time, outlets such as WESH note that lawmakers have debated a broader hands-free ban, a change supporters say would make enforcement easier while critics raise concerns about proof and privacy.
Tips and takeaways
Officials and safety groups are urging drivers to turn on Do Not Disturb or focus settings, stash phones where they cannot be reached, or pull over before answering a call or checking a map. The FLHSMV says every traffic stop is being treated as a "teachable moment" to correct risky habits and bring down fatalities and serious injuries, per FLHSMV.
For drivers across Florida the message is blunt and pretty hard to argue with: eyes up, phones down. Officials hope that pairing visible patrols with a statewide education push this month will start to slow a problem the state’s own data shows is both growing and costly.
