Florida DUI Traffic Ticket Lawyer Blog

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A driver who allegedly blew threw a red light while speeding at 60 M.P.H. at a Ybor City intersection caused a four car accident that sent at least two people to Tampa hospitals. According to witness statements printed online at TampaBay.com a woman driving a Chevy Colorado pick-up truck ran a red light driving upwards of 60 M.P.H. and had to be cut free from the truck and was taken to Tampa General Hospital.

Witnesses say the woman struck a Ford F-250 after she ran the red light. That pick-up then flipped and crashed into a Chevy Impala while the Colorado struck a GMC Jimmy which was forced into the side of a building. The driver of the Ford truck was able to crawl away from his vehicle following the collision but was taken to the hospital. Charges have not been filed on the woman driving the truck at the time the article was printed.

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.

A 36-year-old woman with an unrestrained six-year-old child on her lap jumped a curb at the blue arrival area of Tampa International Airport. She crashed her 1994 Ford Ranger into a 1,500 gallon salt water tank that was worth upwards of $100,000. While no one in the terminal was hurt according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune’s website all 30 to 40 saltwater fish are expected to die.

Yamile Campuzano-Martinez has been cited for failure to use a child restraint device, careless driving and failure to provide a driver's license. The child riding on her lap suffered what is described as a minor head injury in the car crash and there were no reported injuries to a second child riding in the pick-up truck.

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 Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.

The story of Emmanuel Mejia is a sad one and his plight will continue to bring national scrutiny to the issue of texting while driving. Mejia is a sanitation worker who lost both his legs and two fingers due to a car accident that seems to have been caused by a man who was texting while driving. The Sarasota Herald Tribune is reporting details of the fateful day on August 25 when Mejia’s life was changed forever.

The 20-year-old amateur boxer was emptying trash cans in Bartow when he was struck by 26-year-old Stephen Horne. Mejia was revived on three occasions when his heart stopped and had his left leg amputated below the knee and his right leg amputated half way up his thigh. He also lost half his right thumb and his right index finger.

Horne has been charged with reckless driving with serious bodily injury and has been arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. The charges carry a possible five-year prison term. Witnesses claim Horne said he was texting at the time of the accident following the crash. Polk Sheriff’s have obtained a search warrant for Horne’s phone to determine what happened right before the traffic accident.

If you have been cited for a traffic violation in Tampa or anywhere in Hillsborough County that led to your arrest and are in need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Traffic Defense Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.

Tarpon Springs’ Levar Murray pleaded guilty to several drug charges, fleeing to elude and leaving the scene of an accident with property damage according to a story on the website TBO.com. The 22-year-old has been sentenced to four years in prison stemming from an incident that ended when he crashed his car into a housed on Holiday Lake Drive.

The incident took place in June when a deputy was following Murray’s Pontiac on Holiday Lake Drive. Murray began to speed and would not stop when the deputy tried to pull him over. Murray lost control of his car and then crashed his car into a house. Two passengers were injured and the police found Murray hiding in the backseat of his car.

If you have been cited for a traffic violation in St. Petersburg, Clearwater or Pinellas County that led to an arrest you need qualified legal representation. Please do not hesitate to contact experienced Criminal Defense Attorney David Haenel at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourPinellasArrest.com. Also you can contact David via email or by stopping in our Clearwater office located at 4500 140 Ave. North #203.

A seven-year-old boy is in critical condition at Bayfront Medical Center following a car accident on Cleveland Street at Belcher Road. According to the St. Petersburg Times website, Alan Asmitia was thrown from an SUV that ran a red light and collided with a truck and then a car. The boy was ejected from the cargo area of the SUV and hit a light pole.

According to Clearwater police, Asmitia was not wearing a seat belt nor was he in a restraint seat. He was airlifted to the hospital with critical injuries. An investigation is ongoing but according to the story alcohol does not seem to be a factor in the accident and no citations have been issued at this point.

If you have been cited for a traffic violation in St. Petersburg, Clearwater or Pinellas County and you are in need of qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Ticket Defense 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 or by stopping in our Clearwater office located at 4500 140 Ave. North #203.

The St. Petersburg Times is reporting that the two people who died in a high-speed motorcycle accident are both residents of Clearwater. Daniel Rivers and Starr Knotek were thrown from a 2004 Suzuki motorcycle while speeding around a curve and losing control of the bike.

According to police reports Knotek was pronounced dead at the scene and Rivers was taken to the hospital where he died. While police are blaming the high-speed as a cause in the accident, they are also investigating the possibility of DUI playing a role.

If you have been charged with a DUI in St. Petersburg, Clearwater or anywhere in Pinellas County, please do not hesitate to contact 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.

Emmett McNear made a couple bad decisions leading to his arrest. The Arcadia man was having sex in the front seat of his parked car when he was discovered by police. Despite having a suspended license, McNear sped away trying to elude police and the sure-fire arrest that was to follow.

According to a story on The Bradenton Herald’s website, McNear was approached by police just before 9:00 p.m. When the officer identified himself McNear slid into the driver’s seat and sped off. When he was finally pulled over, officers say they saw the 27-year-old switch places with the woman so it would seem like he wasn’t driving the car. McNear was booked into Sarasota County jail amd charged with driving with a suspended license and fleeing to elude law enforcement.

If your license has been suspended and that led to your arrest in Sarasota or Mantaee County and you are in need of qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Criminal Defense Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourSuspension.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our Sarasota office located at 200 N. Washington Blvd.

Police were on the lookout for Sirena Williams in connection with a hit and run charge in which she was driving a car without a license tag. According to a story on TampaBay.com Tampa police located her Thursday afternoon as she ran a red light. Williams pulled over and then according to police reports ran out of the car as her four-year-old son called for his mother to stop running away from the police.

Police eventually caught up with Williams and charged her with aggravated fleeing to elude arrest, driving with a suspended license and two counts of child neglect. There was another passenger in the car who was 17-years-old. Williams was taken to Hillsborough County Jail and released on $11,750 bail.

If you have been cited for a traffic violation in Tampa or anywhere in Hillsborough County that lead to your arrest and are in need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Traffic Defense Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.

In 2007 Hillsborough County discussed installing controversial red light cameras at intersections in Tampa. At the time there were concerns about the high number of rear-end collisions at intersections with these cameras and also the city was worried about a private company issuing traffic citations. According to TBO.com, two years later the possibility of red light cameras in Tampa is getting another look.

The city is looking into how effective the cameras are in other Tampa Bay communities before making a decision. The county already is using these devices at 10 intersections including N. Dale Mabry and Waters Avenue, which was just activated last week. At the heart of the matter is not only safety but also a need to continue to find other streams of revenue for cash-strapped county and city governments. County officials anticipate generating more than $200,000 a month in fines.

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 Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTicket.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office, 11 children were taken to the hospital for minor injuries suffered in a school bus crash Wednesday morning. TampaBay.com is reporting the bus was driven by Olga Gurerro who has been cited for violation of right of way in the traffic accident. The bus was carrying 39 students to Beth Shields Middle School in Ruskin.

The collision took place at an intersection and involved a Terminix truck driven by Douglas Hayes. Neither driver was injured and most of the children suffered “bumps and bruises” according to the article. Gurerro has a clean driving record but will now be tested for drugs and alcohol, which is standars procedure following a school bus accident.

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 Defense Attorney Darren Finebloom at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourTickets.com. Also you can contact Darren via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.

An 18-year-old in St. Petersburg was involved in a single car accident around 5:00 a.m. Monday morning. Colin Knapp allegedly lost control of his car and it hit a raised curb. The Acura then collided with a concrete mailbox and overturned according to the FHP as reported on TampaBay.com.

The car flipped onto its roof and caused the window of a nearby home to be shattered as debris flew from the scene. Knapp was taken to Bayfront Medical Center where he was said to have minor injuries. The teenager was cited for careless driving and having an attached tag not assigned following the accident.

If you have been cited for a traffic violation in St. Petersburg, Clearwater or Pinellas County and you are in need of qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Ticket Defense 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 or by stopping in our Clearwater office located at 4500 140 Ave. North #203.

Almino Munoz has a long list of arrests in Hillsborough County and now according to TampaBay.com the 48-year-old is in trouble again. According to police reports Munoz was arrested early Sunday after leading police on a chase in a stolen truck full of stolen items. The 48-year-old allegedly stole the truck from a woman he knew.

Munoz has previously been arrested in Hillsborough County on charges of domestic violence battery, DUI, driving without a license, aggravated battery and petty theft among others. Now he is being charged with reckless driving, driving without a license, resisting arrest, burglary, violation of probation and grand theft.

If you have been arrested in Tampa and need qualified legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact experienced Defense Attorney Stephen Higgins at 1-800-FIGHT-IT (1-800-344-4848) to discuss the matter or visit our website FightYourFelony.com. You can also contact Stephen via email or by stopping in our new Tampa office located at 3426 W. Kennedy Blvd.