Beginning January 1, 2025, several new laws will take effect in the State of Florida, including a teen social media ban and new penalties for interfering with first responders. Provisions to social media include anyone under 14 will be prohibited from creating social media accounts.

Teens aged 14 and 15 will need their parents’ consent. Under the new law, HB 3: Online Protections for Minors, no parent or child is legally responsible, putting the sole burden on social media companies to follow the law. 

In addition, there are new penalties for those who interfere with first responders. HB 184: Impeding, Threatening, or Harassing First Responders, also known as the “Halo Law,” creates a 25-foot buffer zone for first responders. People who violate the zone or threaten, harass, or prevent a first responder from performing their duty can result in a second-degree misdemeanor.

With January being Move Over Month in Florida, it’s a great time to raise awareness of the importance of moving over for first responders and slowing down for emergency vehicles and disabled vehicles on the side of the road.

Florida law requires you move over a lane, when one can safely do so, for stopped law enforcement, emergency, sanitation, utility service vehicles, tow trucks or wreckers, maintenance, or construction vehicles with displaying warning lights, and any disabled vehicle on the side of the road.

Statistically, the most likely to violate the Move Over Law is drivers aged 20-40. This age group is less likely to move over or slow down when they approach emergency, service or disabled vehicles, according to the Florida Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV).

When a driver fails to move over for a stopped or disabled vehicle on the roadside, they put the safety of first responders, law enforcement, service professionals, and the motorists they assist at great risk. In 2022, there were 170 crashes, and more than 14,000 citations issued to motorists who failed to move over in Florida.

If you have any questions about these new laws, please do not hesitate to contact our experienced South Florida personal injury attorneys.

Why Aronfeld Trial Lawyers?

Since the firm’s founding in 1991, Spencer Aronfeld and his team of experienced attorneys have been passionately and successfully pursuing justice on behalf of the injured and overlooked. We have spent decades litigating medical malpractice, maritime personal injury, auto accidents, and child injury cases to name a few; and over the years we have brought our clients headlining verdicts and life changing settlements. Although we might not be a massive legal enterprise with thousands of lawyers across the world, we find that this makes our work more human and further impassions the representation we provide to clients each and every day. If you have been injured, contact us today so we can begin the fight for you!