The National Motorists Association Foundation (NMAF) recently sent out an email warning America’s drivers of the dangers of having a bad driving record. While many motorists are still unaware of the damage points can have on insurance costs the NMAF even went a step further in their newsletter. The NMAF warns truck drivers that just a few citations could cause them to lose their job and maybe not be able to find a new one.
The release details how serious traffic violations like reckless driving, DUI or serious at-fault traffic accidents can stay on your record for a decade or more and in some states forever. Bad driving records will absolutely raise your car insurance rates but according to the NMAF those troubled records can show up on background checks when you apply for a job, rental property, life insurance or loans and credit cards.
Bad driving records can affect you in ways you haven’t even thought about years down the road. A DUI conviction on your record could stop you from entering Canada as that country does not allow DUI “criminals” to cross their border. That vacation, fishing trip or sight-seeing jaunt you planned with your wife can be derailed for something you did before the two of you ever met. If you have a bad driving record it can cause a professional license to be revoked or kill a scholarship you have earned. So if you have ever thought about just paying a traffic ticket rather than fighting the citation, keep the NMAF’s advice in mind.
Monthly Archives: November 2009
FLORIDA TRAFFIC BLOG: Teens Drivers Texting At Alarming Rates According To Study
Pew Internet recently released a study with some alarming numbers when it comes to teenagers and distracted driving. According to their findings, almost 50% of teens say they have been a passenger in a car when a driver has texted while operating a vehicle and more than 25% said they have done it themselves. The survey was based on a sample size of 800 teens and according to the research there is no gender divide when it comes to distracted driving among teenagers.
The report came out just as momentum has started to build for a texting ban in Florida which was recently supported by Governor Charlie Crist. Fourteen states and the District of Columbia already ban the practice of text messaging while driving. Numerous cities have banned their employees who drive trains and buses from the practice as well. Recent studies in numerous publications have backed up the bans as they have found distracted driving to be more dangerous than driving drunk.
Texting and driving has not been banned yet in Florida but if you have been cited for a moving violation anywhere in Florida and need aggressive legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact Florida Traffic Attorney David Haenel at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTickets.com. Also you can contact David via email. We have lawyers all over the state of Florida who can help you fight your traffic ticket.
PINELLAS TRAFFIC BLOG: Skyway Bridge Chase Leads To Multiple Charges
Last weekend law enforcement officers were led on a chase over the Skyway Bridge as they pursued two men, one of which turned out to be a 15-year-old. According to a story in the Sarasota Herald Tribune the pair were trying to elude officers in a stolen car. A 21-year-old named Lashay Cooper who is a Bradenton resident was arrested but the 15-year-old was not apprehended.
The chase began when law enforcement tried to arrest the teenager at the Hall nightclub in Palmetto due to the fact there were eight warrants out for his arrest. The teen and Cooper then allegedly sped away leading police on a chase into Pinellas County. There were traveling in a Saab SUV that was reportedly stolen from a Longboat Key resident. According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s office the teen will face numerous charges including driving without a valid license, fleeing to elude law enforcement and resisting arrest with violence. Cooper was booked into Pinellas County Jail on one charge of grand theft auto.
If you have been charged with a crime in St. Petersburg or Pinellas County and need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact St. Petersburg Criminal Defense Attorney Stephen Higgins at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourPinellasArrest.com. Also you can contact Stephen via email or by stopping our Clearwater office located at 4500 140th Ave. N Suite #203.
FLORIDA TRAFFIC BLOG: Governor Crist Throws His Political Weight Behind Texting And Driving Ban
Banning the practice of texting and driving in Florida is not new but the few attempts that have been made to pass a law banning texting while driving have failed. That may be changing. Sensing a shift in public opinion the tide was starting to change but on Wednesday lawmakers in favor of the ban got a huge boost from Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
According to a Bradenton Herald story, Crist did everything but come out and say he wants a ban on text messaging while driving during a cabinet meeting in Tallahassee. Crist let his feelings be known to Julie Jones who is the executive director of the DHSMV. The story reports that more than a dozen bills have been filed on the matter but in the past similar bills barely were considered.
Texting and driving is not a traffic violation yet but if you have been cited for a moving violation anywhere in Florida and need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact Florida Traffic Attorney David Haenel at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact David via email. We have lawyers all over the state of Florida who can help you fight your ticket.
PINELLAS TRAFFIC BLOG: St. Pete Man Rolls Through A Stop Sign And Crashes Into A Police Car
Joshua Harris was arrested in Pinellas County last night following a traffic accident with a police cruiser. The 32-year-old St. Petersburg resident apparently rolled through a stop sign in Lealman and crashed into a police cruiser according to a story on TampaBay.com. Following the car accident Harris attempted to leave the scene but he was quickly caught.
The accident occurred just after 6:00 p.m. and took place at 54th Avenue N. and 39th Street. Investigators think alcohol may have been involved in the accident that sent both men to the hospital. Harris has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a valid license. He also had outstanding warrants for obstructing justice and dealing in stolen property. He has not been charged with DUI at this point.
If you have been involved in a traffic accident and then charged with a crime in St. Petersburg or Pinellas County and need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact St. Petersburg Criminal Defense Attorney Stephen Higgins at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourPinellasArrest.com. Also you can contact Stephen via email or by stopping our Clearwater office located at 4500 140th Ave. N Suite #203.
FLORIDA DUI BLOG: Teenager Charged With DUI Manslaughter In Crash That Killed His High School Football Teammate
Chad Zeeman and Matt Pouk competed for the same position on the Charlotte High football team yet the pair formed a friendship. That friendship had the two together heading to a party just after midnight on September 19. The truck Zeeman was driving that night was involved in a crash that left Polk dead at the scene. According to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Zeeman was charged with DUI manslaughter in the 19-year-olds death yesterday.
According to the story the Florida Highway Patrol is reporting that Zeeman’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit testing at 0.113 and at that point a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was taken to Charlotte County jail and released on $26,000 bail.
If you have been charged with a DUI in Florida, please do not hesitate to contact DUI Defense Attorney David Haenel at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) or online at FightYourDUI.com to discuss the matter. Also you can contact David via email or by stopping in any of our four Florida law offices located in Tampa, Clearwater, Sarasota or Orlando.
TAMPA BAY TRAFFIC BLOG: Man Found Guilty Of Street Racing, Reckless Driving And Vehicular Homicide Gets 15 Years
Roger Yeager was found guilty of reckless driving, vehicular homicide and street racing in an accident that took the life of 83-year-old Vertis Ryan. Now he has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison according to a story on TBO.com. The Gibsonton man was racing another car when he rammed his Nissan 350Z into the Ford Taurus that Vertis Ryan and her husband William were driving. It took the jury just three hours to convict Yeager last month.
Sheriff’s investigators estimated that Yeager was driving at more than 100 M.P.H. in a 45 zone when he hit the Ryan’s car and the judge showed him on leniency in his sentence. On top of the 15 years in prison for the manslaughter, Yeager was given six years probation on the other charges and he had his driver’s license permanently revoked.
If you have been cited for a traffic violation in Tampa that led to criminal charges and need agressive legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Defense Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourCase.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.
PINELLAS DUI BLOG: St. Petersburg Driver Faces DUI Manslaughter Charges In Crash That Left Two Injured And One Dead
According to police Thomas Stockton Corbin was driving drunk during the late evening hours on September 24. He was on Gulf to Bay Blvd. when he slammed into the back of a car waiting at an intersection light. Now the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Corbin has been charged with DUI manslaughter and DUI causing serious bodily injury.
The car crash killed 23-year-old Maxwell Limonick who was sitting in the backseat. It also sent the two front seat occupants to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Corbin’s blood alcohol level is being reported to have been 0.20, which is more than twice the legal limit in Florida.
If you have been charged with a felony DUI in St. Petersburg, Clearwater or anywhere in Pinellas County, please do not hesitate to contact Pinellas DUI Defense Attorney David Haenel at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) or online at FightYourPinellasArrest.com to discuss the matter. Also you can contact David via email or by stopping in our Pinellas office located at 4500 140th Ave. North #203.
TAMPA TRAFFIC BLOG: Two Deaths And 13 Other Pedestrians Injured Leads To Discussion Of Changes On Fletcher Avenue
According to a story on TBO.com nearly 45,000 vehicles travel just one specific area of Fletcher Avenue each day. That is the same area were 15 pedestrians have been involved in accidents with two of those being killed. Now Hillsborough County is looking into ways to make the area safer with help from a volunteer board.
The stretch of Fletcher Avenue just west of the University of South Florida could have its speed limit dropped from 45 M.P.H. to 35 M.P.H. Other suggestions call for adding small medians, increasing bicycle lanes and using electronic signage to help pedestrians. The project could cost the city upwards of $2 million.
If you have been cited for a traffic violation in Tampa or anywhere in Hillsborough County and are in need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Traffic Defense Attorney Stephen Higgins at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact Stephen via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.
TAMPA TRAFFIC BLOG: Tribune Comes Out In Favor Of Adding Red Light Cameras To Tampa Intersections
It seemed like a reader-friendly position to take when Tampa’s namesake newspaper came out in an editorial supporting the addition of red light cameras to the city’s intersections in the name of public safety. The opinion piece sites the fact that other cities around central Florida are already operating these red light camera systems and that despite the fact that studies show they tend to stop one type of car accident while increasing another is not a good enough reason not to go forward with the plan. The editorial, however, did not address the numerous problems that are cropping up as counties install the cameras in an attempt to replace money they have lost due to budget cuts.
The problems that have stemmed from red light cameras, which are operated by private companies, include lawsuits, an incident with a scam artist, a rash of tickets being issued for “rolling stops” and even a nightmare story of tickets being issued to the wrong driver. A West Palm Beach attorney who is fighting these cameras all over the state of Florida has claimed the citations, which are similar to parking tickets, only identify a car not a driver. That point seemed to gain merit when a Sarasota woman received two tickets for running red lights in a city she had never been in and in a car with a tag not even close to her own. The editorial on TBO.com says the tickets can be contested but “photographs are difficult to contest” and therein lies the problem. Wrongful tickets, which we know can happen, will be almost impossible to contest and can cost Tampa drivers hundreds of dollars.
If you have been cited for a traffic violation in Tampa or anywhere in Hillsborough County and are in need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Traffic Defense Attorney Stephen Higgins at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact Stephen via email or by stopping in our Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.