Florida DUI Traffic Ticket Lawyer Blog

The Florida Highway Patrol has fired an 18 year veteran trooper after a pistol whipping incident in his front yard. According to Bianca Prieto's story in the Orlando Sentinel FHP Fires Trooper Accused of Pistol Whipping Teen trooper Charles Davis was apparently annoyed by the young kids making noise in front of his house. Trooper Davis got into an altercation with one of the teens, and the teen put the trooper in a "choke hold". After telling the teens he would calm down, Davis then went into his house to retrieve a gun. Davis swung the gun at another boy's head, striking 17-year-old Justin Roy's head and body, causing a small cut and laceration. As the Orlando police were investigating the incident, Trooper Davis became extremely agitated and began making off the wall comments. Trooper Davis told the investigating officers that next time he was confronted with this situation "he would kill the kids and leave the bodies for us to clean up on the lawn". This is not Trooper Davis's first brush with the law. He was apparently investigated for disorderly conduct in 2007 and an unknown violation in 2006, for which he served an 80 hour suspension from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

Former WTSP Channel 10 reporter Jennifer Howe was arrested by the St. Petersburg Florida Police department for driving under the influence. According to Eric Deggan's article Former WTSP-Ch. 10 News Anchor Jennifer Howe Faces DUI Charge, Ms. Howe was arrested by the St. Petersburg Police Department after police found her sitting in her car in a CVS parking lot. Witnesses told police that Howe's vehicle may have struck a school crossing sign because damage matching Howe's vehicle was found near the scene of the crash. Howe was arrested by the police and asked to submit to a breath test at the jail. She blew into the intoxilyzer 8000 and a reading of .152 was recorded about 90 minutes after the arrest. Although not charged with leaving the scene of an accident by the officers, the state attorney in Pinellas County makes the ultimate decision on what charges to file.
If you are facing a DUI case in Pinellas County call the law office of Finebloom and Haenel at 1-800-FIGHT-IT or check out their website at www.FightYourDui.com

As many driver's throughout Tampa, Florida now know, "Big Brother" is watching as you drive down the road headed towards the red light at the upcoming intersection. As part of an initiative to crack down on red light runners, Hillsborough County employed American Traffic Solutions out of Phoenix, Arizona to install cameras at what the County deemed to be problematic interesections throughout Hillsborough County.

The cameras were installed in Port Richey as well as Temple Terrace and sit atop a 20 foot high pole and are able to record five images in 1.5 seconds. An image is captured of the license plate of the car and transmitted to the Sheriff's office to determine whether a traffic citation should be issued.

"In theory, the idea of a camera capturing violators would seem to work," says Stephen Higgins, a traffic lawyer in Tampa, Florida, "but the problem is the manner in which the cases are dealt with by the system." "The main issue for people who receive citations is the points - typically points on a person's driving record causes their insurance rates to increase. However, red light tickets issued by camera's do not apply points to a person's driving record," Higgins explained. "In other words, the tickets are designed to be a money maker for the county as well as the company employed to install the cameras. "Think about it -you get a ticket for running a red light and then recieve a citation in the mail. Why would you fight the ticket if you aren't going to get any points? So, instead, you pay the fine amount of $126.00 and think the ticket is taken care of, not realizing that it will still appear on your driving record."

The problems don't stop there. "If a violator decided to challenge the citation, he or she must send the ticket back to Amercan Traffic Solutions opting to challenge the citation and wait to receive notice of where to appear for a hearing and told that if they lose the hearing, they will pay additional fees. The entire process is designed to be complicated so people simply pay the citation. Its patently unfair."

Contrary to the stated purpose of the cameras, in one study performed by the University of South Florida, red light cameras were actually found to cause more accidents. The study found that persons who approach an intersection having a red light camera slam their brakes when the light turns yellow causing a rear end collision.
Recently, CNN reported on the use of red light camera's throughout the United States and properly referred to them as "cash machines."

If you have received a citation anywhere in the state of Florida, please refer to our website, www.fightyourtickets.com and contact any one of our lawyers.