Can You Use Your Phone While Driving in Florida? Fines and Points

Using your phone while driving in Florida is legal for some things and illegal for others, and the line moves depending on where you are. Texting, emailing, and typing messages are banned on every road. Holding your phone to your ear for a voice call is legal on most roads but illegal in school zones and active work zones. A first texting ticket runs about $78 once mandatory court costs are added to the $30 base fine.

What’s Banned Everywhere in Florida

Florida’s texting ban makes it illegal to manually type or enter multiple letters, numbers, or symbols into a wireless device while driving. That covers texting, emailing, instant messaging, and any other non-voice communication that requires you to tap out characters.¹

It’s a primary offense. An officer who sees you texting can pull you over for that alone, without needing a separate reason like speeding or a broken taillight.²

Handheld Voice Calls Are Still Legal on Most Roads

The texting statute exempts wireless communication that doesn’t require typing characters, so holding your phone to your ear for a conversation is legal on most Florida roads.¹ Tapping a contact to dial is fine too, because that activates a feature rather than composing a message. The moment you enter a school zone or active work zone, though, that freedom disappears.

School Zones and Work Zones: Hands-Free Only

In designated school crossings, school zones, and active work zones, Florida prohibits any handheld use of a wireless device. Not just texting. Any use. A work zone counts as active when construction personnel are present or operating equipment on or beside the road.³

To take a call in one of these zones, use Bluetooth, an earpiece, your vehicle’s built-in speakerphone, or another setup that leaves both hands free. Built-in dashboard features like a factory navigation screen don’t count as handheld devices and are fine to use.

Exceptions That Apply in Both Settings

Your vehicle is stationary. If you’re parked or pulled to the side, neither statute applies.¹
You’re reporting an emergency or criminal activity to law enforcement.
You’re using GPS or navigation. On regular roads you can hold the phone; in a school or work zone the navigation has to be hands-free.³
You’re receiving emergency, traffic, or weather alerts.

The zone law also exempts operators of authorized emergency vehicles on official duty and drivers of autonomous vehicles operating in autonomous mode.³

What a Ticket Actually Costs

The base fines look small. The real cost, after Florida stacks mandatory court costs and surcharges, is higher.

First Texting Offense

A first texting violation is a nonmoving infraction. The base fine is $30 with no license points.¹ Florida adds a $12.50 administrative fee, a $10 Article V assessment, and roughly $23.50 in court costs to every traffic infraction, bringing the real total to about $78.⁴

Second Texting Offense Within Five Years

A second texting conviction within five years of the first becomes a moving violation. The base fine climbs to $60 and 3 points go on your license.¹ Moving violations carry higher court costs ($35 rather than $18) plus a $3 surcharge, pushing the realistic total to roughly $128 before any local add-ons.⁴

Handheld Use in a School or Work Zone

Any handheld use in one of these zones is a moving violation from the first ticket: a $60 base fine (about $128 all in) and 3 license points.³ First-time offenders have an out: complete a wireless communications device driving safety program approved by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and both the fine and the points are waived. Showing the clerk proof you bought hands-free equipment may also get a first offense dismissed.

How the Points Can Suspend Your License

Three points from one ticket won’t suspend your license by themselves. Points stack, though, and Florida’s thresholds are:

12 points in 12 months: suspension for up to 30 days
18 points in 18 months: suspension for up to 3 months
24 points in 36 months: suspension for up to 1 year

Those totals include every moving violation, not just phone-related ones.⁵ A driver already sitting on 9 points from a speeding ticket and an improper lane change hits the 12-point line with a single handheld-in-a-school-zone citation.

What It Does to Your Insurance

A first texting ticket as a nonmoving infraction usually doesn’t appear as a moving violation on your driving record, and many insurers won’t raise your rate for it. A second texting offense or any zone violation is a different story. Both are moving violations with points, and insurers price them that way. Industry data from late 2024 showed a texting ticket raised Florida premiums by roughly 28% on average, with that surcharge sticking around for three to five years.

Commercial Drivers Face a Stricter Federal Rule

If you hold a CDL, federal law adds a layer on top of the state rules. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration bans all handheld mobile phone use in a commercial motor vehicle, including voice calls. The only exception is contacting law enforcement or emergency services.⁶

“Driving” under the federal rule includes sitting in traffic or stopped at a light. You have to pull over safely before picking up the phone. Penalties are steeper than the state fines: up to $2,750 for the driver and up to $11,000 for an employer that allows or requires handheld use. Multiple violations can lead to disqualification.⁷

If Phone Use Contributes to a Crash

Phone records are normally private. If a crash causes death or personal injury, though, your wireless billing records and testimony about messages you sent or received become admissible in court.¹ Prosecutors and civil attorneys can subpoena your carrier to show you were on your phone at the moment of impact.

On the civil side, breaking the texting ban can establish negligence per se. The injured person still has to prove that texting caused the crash and their damages, but the argument over whether a reasonable driver would have been texting is already settled by statute. A $78 ticket can turn into six-figure liability once a lawsuit is filed.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 316.305 – Wireless Communications Devices; Prohibition
2
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Put It Down: Focus On Driving
3
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 316.306 – School and Work Zones; Prohibition on the Use of a Wireless Communications Device in a Handheld Manner
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 318.18 – Amount of Penalties
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 322.27 – Authority of Department to Suspend or Revoke License
6
eCFR. 49 CFR 392.82 – Using a Hand-Held Mobile Telephone
7
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. New Mobile Phone Restriction Rule for Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers