A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s deputy pulled over a woman on North Dixie Highway in Lake Worth Beach and cited her for holding a wireless communications device in her right hand.
She doesn’t have a right hand.
The citation — issued February 11 around 8:04 a.m. — listed the violation as “Wireless Comm. Device/Handheld While Driving – First Offense” under Florida Statute 316.305(3)(a). Civil penalty: $116. The woman posted a video of the traffic stop to TikTok, where it promptly went viral. She requested body camera footage. CBS12 filed a public records request. And the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office quietly dropped the case before the scheduled court hearing.
What Florida’s Distracted Driving Law Actually Says
Florida’s Wireless Communications While Driving Law — strengthened in 2019 to make texting a primary offense — is more specific than most drivers realize. And apparently, more specific than some deputies enforcing it.
The statute prohibits manually typing or entering letters, numbers, or symbols into a device while driving. That means texting, emailing, and instant messaging. It does not mean holding a phone.
Attorney Ted Hollander with the Ticket Clinic laid it out: “Whether she’s holding it in her right hand or her left hand, it really doesn’t matter. If you are not in a school zone or a construction zone, you are allowed to hold a cell phone.”
The citation in question didn’t check the box for a school zone. Didn’t check the box for a construction zone. Which means — according to the statute — holding a phone wasn’t illegal in the first place.
Attorney Michael Donahue added, “The statute’s actually really explicit. It says you have to be engaged in manually typing letters or numbers into the device.”
Simply holding a phone while driving? Not a violation under the current Florida distracted driving law. Unless you’re in a school crossing, school zone, or active work zone. Then it’s prohibited outright.
Enforcement vs. Reality — A Narrow Statute and a Wide Net
Donahue noted that texting-while-driving citations are rare in Palm Beach County. “It’s really difficult for the officer to prove that unless they visually see it or have it on their cameras,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons why you pretty much never see this infraction enforced.”
Except when it is — incorrectly.
Hollander pointed out that many drivers pay citations without questioning them, even when the ticket doesn’t hold up. “A lot of times people pay tickets that shouldn’t be paid, and this could have been one of those examples. But luckily, this lady seems to be standing up for herself.”
She did. She posted the video. She requested the bodycam footage. She challenged the citation. And the case evaporated before it reached a courtroom.
The deputy’s claim — that he observed a device in her “right hand” — became the central absurdity. But the deeper issue is enforcement of a statute that’s narrower than its reputation. Drivers assume holding a phone is illegal everywhere. Deputies apparently assume the same thing. The law says otherwise.
The Viral Video and the Quiet Dismissal
The woman’s TikTok video sparked debate about how clearly Florida’s distracted driving law is understood by both drivers and officers. The footage showed her questioning the deputy’s observation in real time. The citation listed the charge. The statute didn’t support it. And the case was dismissed before anyone had to explain the gap.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office hasn’t commented on the stop. The bodycam footage hasn’t been released. The woman’s court hearing was canceled. The citation was dropped.
Total resolution time: a few weeks and one viral video.
Donahue offered a cautionary note: “You don’t want to be in a position where you have to prove your innocence. Although the law is not that strict, you really need to treat it almost like it is.”
Translation: the statute may be narrow, but enforcement isn’t always precise. And most people won’t have a TikTok following or a missing hand to make the discrepancy obvious.
The case is closed. The citation is dismissed. And somewhere in Florida, a deputy is probably still pulling people over for holding phones outside school zones.