The City Council in Oldsmar, Florida asked one of the largest providers of red light cameras to come to Pinellas County and conduct a traffic study on red light running. It is safe to say that Arizona’s American Traffic Solutions (ATS) had a vested interest in the results, which seemed to raise eyebrows in Oldsmar.
According to TampaBay.com ATS found that in an eight-day period in January more than 100 drivers ran a red light. No traffic tickets were issued but in a non-shocker ATS found that the city of Oldsmar could benefit from their product as the company’s director of business development called the amount of incidents of running a red light “Way super high”. Florida traffic attorneys are not able to challenge these tickets, which are city violations which are similar to parking tickets.
Monthly Archives: March 2010
20 Charged Over The Weekend With DUI At Ocoee Checkpoint
Last week we reported in our blog that the Ocoee Police Department and numerous other agencies including the Orlando Police Department and Orange County Sheriff’s office would be conducting a DUI checkpoint over the weekend. It seems not everyone was reading our blog. Twenty people were arrested on charges of DUI, 10 others were arrested on other charges and numerous Florida traffic tickets were handed out as well.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that one man tried to escape the checkpoint by accelerating and attempting to get on Florida’s Turnpike before crashing. The man abandoned his car and tried to escape on foot. He was caught and arrested after officers found three pounds of marijuana in his car. There were nearly 150 people working the checkpoint including MADD volunteers.
Seat Belt Tickets Are Necessary Judging By Fatal Accidents In Manatee According To Police
There have been 65 Florida traffic tickets issued in Manatee County since the state-wide “Click It Or Ticket” program began. Police in the area believe in the campaign and if the people of Manatee didn’t all they need to do is look at two car accidents that last two days according to officials. Both cars accidents were single-car crashes, both drivers were ejected from their cars and both died. Neither was wearing a seat belt.
A Traffic citation in Florida for a seat belt violation carries a $116 fine and in recent years the Florida legislature has increased law enforcement’s authority to ticket seat belt violators. Seat belt violations are now a primary offense meaning you can be pulled over for that violation alone. In the past a driver had to be committing another infraction like speeding or reckless driving and then that person could be ticketed if they were not wearing a seat belt.
Miami DUI News – Heat’s Dorell Wright Charged With DUI In Miami Beach
Not only was Miami Heat forward Dorell Wright driving with a suspended license but he was allegedly doing it while drunk. Wright was arrested early Thursday morning by Miami Beach police and charged with DUI according to the Miami Herald. Wright was pulled over on Alton road for speeding.
According to the Herald report, Wright refused field sobriety tests and knew he was driving with a suspended license. The officer reported that Wright showed all the signs police usually site in DUI arrests. He wrote that the Heat forward had slurred speech, smelled of alcohol and red eyes.
Florida Seat Belt Law Drawing Scrutiny From One Bradenton Mother
A Bradenton, Florida mother was ticketed for violating Florida’s seat belt law after her son unbuckled as she was pulling up to his elementary school. Denise Muro was given a Florida traffic ticket in the amount of $116 because when she pulled up to Stewart Elementary a Manatee Sheriff saw her son was not buckled up.
According to the Bradenton Herald, sheriff’s deputies in Manatee were surrounding the school area but not on the property. Muro says when she was stopped her front two tires were on the elementary school’s property and the back two were still in the street. The Manatee mother has decided to fight the traffic ticket and hopefully she will get a qualified Florida traffic attorney to help her.
Traffic Tickets Issued By Red Light Cameras Take A Step Towards Being Florida Law
A standardized red light camera bill cleared its first hurdle in the Florida House as it moved through a House Health Care Regulation Policy Committee. The bill is sponsored by Bradenton representative Ron Reagan and it sets up standard fees for red light runners caught by the controversial cameras. The fine would be $155. The traffic fine would be split up with $75 going to the local government, $55 to the state and $25 into a Department of Health trust fund.
The state-wide red light camera system still would be a code violation rather than a traffic ticket with points assessed to your Florida driver’s license since there would still be no witness to the violation outside of the camera. The question then comes on how enforcement of the payment will be handled. Florida traffic attorneys are waiting to watch how this plays out since at the moment these code violations cannot be challenged in a court room.
DUI Among A Slew Of Charges Filed In A Low-Speed Clearwater Chase
Three people, two of whom were police officers, were hospitalized after a low-speed chase through the streets of Clearwater. Jonathan James Thomas-Clark was arrested on charges of DUI, aggravated fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest without violence, felony driving with license suspended, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and tampering with evidence once he was eventually stopped. Another man in the car was also charged.
The chase began when Thomas-Clark’s Cobalt was traveling slowly with an unassigned tag. Officers felt the driving pattern indicated the driver was under the influence. Police attempted to stop the car by pulling in front of it but the Cobalt rammed into the cruiser and kept going. The officers were not seriously injured during the chase.
Driving With A Suspended License Charged Against A Florida Woman For the 26th Time
A Dade City traffic stop led to the 26th arrest for Jennifer Miller for driving with a suspended license. According to a story on TBO.com Dade City police Chief Ray Velboom says Miller had 25 previous incidences of her driver’s license being suspended in about 75% of the counties in the state of Florida. This last stop resulted in Miller attempting to run down the officer after giving him a license that did not belong to her. She was also charged with aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.
Miller has insisted she was not driving the day of her arrest. She is quoted on TBO.com as saying she was in Land O’Lakes at the time selling a truck. The incident began when police were called about cars speeding near a home known for drug use. Miller was not arrested until more than a week after the incident when she was found outside the Pasco County Courthouse.
Four DUI’s Later Sarasota Teacher Is Back In Venice Classroom
Sunday Ronald Jodwalis was arrested for DUI after police observed him eating the wrapper of a sandwich and stumbling around with a reported blood-alcohol level of 0.31, nearly four times what is considered legal in Florida. On Tuesday he was back teaching at Venice Middle School. The fourth drunk driving arrest for the 52-year-old has not kept him from working but failing to report a previous DUI arrest may cost him his job.
According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune the Department of Education is looking into whether or not Jodwalis reported a 2009 DUI conviction. Failure to report an arrest is more damaging to a school employee’s job status than the arrest itself many times. Just recently a teacher’s aide was fired for not reporting her arrest on charges of drug possession and DUI.
Careless Driving Charges Filed Against Port St. Lucie Woman Who Ran Into A FHP Cruiser
A 20-year-old Port St. Lucie woman has been charged with careless driving after she crashed into a Florida Highway Patrol car parked in the median of I-95. Samone Meriweather apparently did not notice traffic slowed ahead of her and she swerved into the median to avoid a rear-end collision. She avoided one accident but got into another as she crashed into the FHP cruiser.
Meriweather had two children in the car with her at the time of the accident. According to the Sarasota Herald Tribune none of the four people involved in the car accident were hurt seriously. The car accident did back-up traffic on I-95 outside of Jupiter for several miles in each direction.