Speeding tickets in Florida
Year after year law enforcement in the State of Florida is given the notorious distinction of being very aggressive in handing out speeding tickets. Over 1.1 million speeding tickets were issued by law enforcement throughout the State. Of that total number, 364,000 were issued by the Florida Highway Patrol. The Florida Highway Patrol is the primary traffic law enforcement agency in the State and their sole function traffic enforcement and investigations. Following an accident in the State of Florida, 9 times out of 10 the Florida Highway Patrol will issue a moving violation such as careless driving, improper lane change, or failure to yield the right of way. When not investigating accidents, FHP is out in force pulling cars over for speeding. They typically use radar and laser in determining a vehicles speed, but they also use aircraft and speedometer pacing in order to get a good speed reading.
The Florida Highway Patrol is not the only law enforcement that conducts pro-active speed enforcement details. In fact, almost all medium to large city municipalities have traffic units. Deploying motorcycles, undercover vehicles, and other stealth methods, these police departments were responsible for issuing over 432,000 speeding ticket according to recent DHSMV statistics. That number only reflects true speeding tickets under Florida statute 316.183, 316.187 or 316.189. Those statutes allow Florida law enforcement to charge you a fine in proportion to every mile you were traveling over the posted speed limit. The fines for these tickets begin at over $100 and maxes out at just under $300 for non-mandatory speeding tickets.
Florida law enforcement can also issue tickets for violation of a traffic control device under statute 317.074(1). That statute is what we commonly refer to as a modified speeding ticket. Because that violation only has a 3 point possibility on your record and typically a smaller fine, law enforcement will sometimes issue a driver that ticket in lieu of an unlawful speeding ticket. Why would a law enforcement officer do that? For one, you may have been cooperative with the officer at the roadside and/or your driving record is not that bad. REMEMBER, almost any law enforcement officer in the State of Florida has access to your record through an electronic database called the DAVID system.
Finally, there are certain types of speeding tickets that require a mandatory appearance on the part of the client and or an attorney for the driver. Those are referred to as 30 over tickets, meaning the officer claims you were driving at least 30 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. The fine amounts are set by the Judge as well as additional penalties, including points, traffic school, and a possible driver’s license suspension. The facts of these cases as well as the person’s driving record become a huge factor in the possible penalty that could result. Call our office today at 941-444-4444 and speak with our office so that we can help you with your ticket.
