Nine counties have pledged to prioritize laws following the first leg of statewide tour

Tallahassee, Florida – Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation President Demetrius Branca is set to embark on the second leg of a tour to visit all 67 Florida counties urging legislators to make it illegal to use cellphones while driving in Florida.

Next week, Branca will speak at legislative delegation meetings at Clay, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties as part of his tour, Driving Change for Safer Florida Streets. Already, the tour has garnered support from nine counties that have passed or pledged to to pass a hands-free resolution, including Alachua, Collier, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Santa Rosa, St. Lucie, Union and Wakulla. (See Jefferson
County Commission meeting testimony here.) Michelle Avola-Brown, Executive Director of Naples Pathways Coalition and Coordinator for Hands-Free Florida, will speak in Collier, Lee and Hendry counties.

“We have had an immediate response from several senators and lawmakers after speaking,” says Branca. “This is opening a direct communication line to decision makers.”

Branca launched the Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation after his son, Anthony, was killed by a distracted driver in 2014, just one month before turning 20. Since then, Branca has joined thousands across the nation and state who have had their lives forever altered by a preventable automobile tragedy. The tour kicked off Dec. 7 with a silent auction on what would have been Anthony’s 30th birthday.

“Coming up on another holiday season, another birthday, without Anthony, doesn’t get any easier even a decade later,” says Branca. “Every single one is excruciating, and it’s made even more excruciating since the data clearly shows that passing common sense laws clearly saves lives – yet Florida fails to do so year after year.”

Branca will travel to the Tampa Bay area next week with his truck and trailer emblazoned with the Driving Change for Safer Florida Streets logo and armed with data underscoring that hands-free laws have immediate, life-saving effects. For example, Oregon, which has the nation’s strictest hands-free laws with fines up to $1,000, is 31% less distracted than the national average and 16% less distracted than the other top states. These laws have prevented over 5,000 crashes, 2,880 injuries, 23 fatalities, and over $200 million in economic damage in 2023.

Current Florida laws, which Branca worked to get passed in 2019, do not take into account that phones are used for more than just texting. They also don’t give officers the power to enforce them. Last session, the Florida House passed the Anthony Branca and Anita Neal Act, which would have required drivers in the state to remain hands-free while using cellphones, with unanimous bipartisan support. However, it died when the senate failed to move the bill through to its first committee. That opposition has only fueled Branca on his mission to help others from suffering the unfathomable tragedy he has endured.

“I can’t take any chances,” says Branca. “If something happened to [my son] Isaac and I didn’t do everything I could to change things, I would never be able to live with myself. Part of this is self preservation. Another part is, I have this fury inside of me at the injustice of it all. That fury won’t let me rest – especially when I get this close.”

Driving Change for Safer Florida Streets schedule leg 2 (please inquire if you’d like to attend a tour stop or commission meeting or schedule an interview with Branca and/ or Avola-Brown):

• Jan. 6 – Clay (Branca, APBF)
• Jan. 7 – Pasco (Branca, APBF)
• Jan. 8 – Collier (Avola-Brown, FL Hands-Free Coalition)
• Jan. 9 – Lee (Avola-Brown, FL Hands-Free Coalition)
• Jan. 9 – Pinellas (Branca, APBF)
• Jan. 10 – Hendry (Avola-Brown, FL Hands-Free Coalition)
• Jan. 10 – Hillsborough (Branca, APBF)

Facts and figures:

• In 2023, Florida drivers were in 391,428 crashes causing 3,331 deaths and more than 250,000 injuries, according to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
• Florida ranks 47th in the nation for its fatality rate at 1.52 [fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled].
• Hillsborough County, Fla. — highest traffic fatality rate in America in 2023 with 67.6 deaths per 100,000 residents.
  • In 2023, the county had 27,441 crashes causing 228 deaths and almost 19,000 injuries.
• Florida drivers pay an average of $3,183 per year for full auto insurance coverage — 37% more than the national average, according to a Bankrate report. For minimum coverage, rates are around $1,128 per year, 45% more than the U.S. average.

In the news:

Tallahassee Democrat
Orlando Sentinel op-ed penned by Tallahassee State College journalism professor Reggie Grant
WCTV
WFSU
WTXL
WKRG
The Daily Dot
Tampa Bay Times editorial
Tampa Bay Times op-ed penned by Demetrius Branca

About the Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation:

The Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation was founded in 2015 by Demetrius Branca after his son, 19-year-old Anthony, was killed by a distracted driver. The foundation is dedicated to raising awareness of the consequences of distracted driving. Its mission is to educate drivers and end this deadly epidemic.