Father fights for tougher hands-free laws after losing son to distracted driver

By Alexa Velez

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    COLLIER COUNTY, Florida (WBBH) — It only takes a second of distraction for everything to change. Imagine reading a text or checking a notification — just one split second could cost a life.

This is the message that Demetrius Branca, a Florida father who lost his son to a distracted driver, is now taking across the state. Branca is advocating for tougher hands-free laws in an effort to prevent more tragedies.

Ten years ago, Demetrius Branca’s 19-year-old son, Anthony, was killed by a distracted driver in Tallahassee. Anthony had just finished his shift at work and was riding his motorcycle to class at Tallahassee State College. He was close to campus, waiting to make a left turn, when a van hit him from behind.

“Anthony was my absolute best friend in the world,” Branca said. “I don’t know another way to describe it. It was one of those relationships that I rarely see with other parents, because there’s some level of, you know, not understanding between generations, but Anthony and I didn’t have that. We were best of friends.”

That pain has fueled Branca’s mission to keep others from going through the same tragedy. As president of the Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation, he is traveling to all 67 Florida counties, urging lawmakers to pass stricter hands-free legislation. So far, nine counties, including Collier, have pledged their support, but Branca says it’s not enough. He points to the weak laws in Florida.

“One of the problems is that the laws in Florida are really, really weak. And so the guy who killed Anthony, he had his license suspended for six months, and he paid $1,100 in fines, and that’s it,” Branca said.

Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles reported that in 2023, drivers in Florida were involved in over 390,000 crashes, resulting in 3,377 deaths.

Advocates like Michelle Avola-Brown, executive director of the Naples Pathways Coalition, are joining Branca’s fight for stronger legislation. Avola-Brown spoke on his behalf at a recent legislative delegation meeting in Collier County.

“We have a huge problem here. Ohio passed hands-free legislation in April of 2023, and in the six-month period that followed, where there were just warnings primarily given out, there was a 25% drop in road fatalities, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Texting while driving is six times more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol. Let alone the people Snapchatting, streaming videos, playing games, doing their Amazon shopping, and what have you. Thirty-one other states have enforceable hands-free legislation that saves lives. Our laws are too weak,” Avola-Brown said.

Branca’s next stops will include Hillsborough, Pinellas and Miami-Dade counties, where he plans to continue pressing lawmakers to prioritize these potentially life-saving measures.

“We should be taking grown adult steps,” Branca said. “But these politicians want to take baby steps. So the baby step that we need to take is we need to get hands-free rules passed in the state of Florida, meaning that you cannot be holding your phone while you’re driving. That is the crux of the problem. It’s the common-sense solution. That’s what we need to do.”

As the fight continues, Branca hopes to save more families from the pain and heartache that he has had to endure, while still keeping his son’s legacy alive.

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