JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-- Governor Rick Scott wants to find out if distracted driving is the reason for an increase in deadly crashes.
Chuck Jensen lives with pain everyday. In July, Jensen was leaving church when he was hit by a driver who admitted he was texting behind the wheel. "I was walking home from church and the next minute I was laying in the ambulance," said Jensen. "He thought he hit a mailbox. I'm 250 pounds. How could he think he hit a mailbox."
Jensen was lucky. Even with pain, he's able to live his life. Others aren't so lucky. Now the governor is taking note. Duval is one of seven counties seeing an unusual increase in the number of traffic crashes and fatalities. Ninety-eight fatal crashes happened this year, compared to 69 last year.
Now the governor is asking the state to do a study to find out if distracted driving is behind the increase in fatal crashes.
Action News caught plenty of people driving while texting, talking, looking down at the phone for seconds, seconds that could mean life or death. While Jensen still struggles everyday, he hopes his story will stop one person from texting. "Driving is a privilege. Don't text and drive. Pull over. If I can get through to one person, I win," said Jensen.
Florida is one of just a handful of states that does not have texting and driving legislation. There were plenty of proposed bills, but the legislation has all failed in recent years.
Statewide, there were 636 fatal crashes through March of this year, compared to 609 the same time last year.
