Florida Traffic Law

Let's take a look at section 318.15 of the Florida Statutes. This section basically says that if a driver fails to either pay the ticket (bad), elect driving school (good), or challenge the ticket within thirty days of receipt of the citation the Clerk shall notify the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles [Department] within 10 days of such failure. Immediately after that notification the Department will issue a suspension notice to the driver that takes effect 20 days after the date of the letter. Additionally, if the driver fails to appear at a scheduled hearing the Clerk will notify the Department with the same result. What we are talking about here is the letter that people receive telling them that "Hey! Guess what - your license is suspended effective on blah, blah date! Have a great day!" What the letter fails to state clearly is that there are options to the driver to "repair" the situation. But hey, the silver lining is that they noticed yo...

Recently, the Orange County (Florida) government announced that they will increase the number of Red Light Cameras from 10 to 50 in the near future. (See Orlando Sentinel ). The argument FOR these cameras is that it discourages red light running and, thus, increases safety. The County better hope not. The installation costs are in the millions and the lease rate is $4,750.00 per month, per camera. These cameras cost the municipality $4,750.00 per month. They are bilking us for way more. The Orlando Sentinel, no longer an objective newspaper - rather a political rag, has taken sides in this issue and is squarely behind the installation and the bilking of Orange County residents and visitors for money. They tout that "[t]he move is a dramatic expansion from the 10 cameras already mounted at some of the county's more crash-prone thoroughfares ." I dare them to look at the crash statistics for these intersections and those without cameras. Yes, with the expansion, ev...

Under Florida law a driver can have his or her driver's license suspended for a whole host of reasons. Some make sense, others do not. (See my webpage regarding reasons for the government to suspend your license ). Often times a driver has no idea their driving privileges have been suspended or revoked until he or she has been pulled over and is informed by law enforcement. (To check your driving privilege status go here . For questions and answers regarding suspended drivers licenses ). Prosecutors and Judges take suspended drivers licenses seriously The usual reason for a suspended drivers license is the driver has forgotten to make an election on a prior ticket. Once they are informed of the error by law enforcement they quickly fix the situation and reinstate their drivers license. In doing so, they forget about the "driving with a suspended license" ticket they just received. Before the driver knows it he or she is being pulled over again for the same exact thi...

The short answer is unfortunately "yes." The problem is that when you ask how you can "fix" this problem - and a 5-year suspension is a big problem for anyone - you will receive different answers from everyone you talk to.  Clerks are trained to not give out anything that could be construed as legal advice so often times they will tell you that you are stuck or to hire an attorney (best advice and not just because I am one). Worse, the DMV personnel will all tell you something different and nothing helpful. A five year suspension is typically issued because someone has been found guilty of three "Driving While License Suspended" [DWLS] citations within a five year period of time (subject to the DMV's "new math" determination). DWLS tickets are usually due to unpaid tickets (if you don't take care of a ticket you receive within 30 days the county clerk will suspend your drivers license). A 5-year suspension occurs because you just pay yo...

Recently, Orange County released the dispositions of thousands of traffic ticket cases from late 2009 - 2011. The error for not reporting these citation dispositions is not important. The concern is that the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, upon receipt, has done the due diligence and sent out suspension letters for those drivers that now meet the requirements for suspension. The good news is that there may be a way to undo the suspension. Often times past citations, especially those that cause a suspension, can be modified to avoid the suspension. Even if the suspension has already begun relief can be had by motion. When a suspension is being issued by the Department it will send out a letter notifying the driver of the impending suspension of driving privileges. It is best to seek an attorney to try and avoid the suspension as soon as the letter is received. However, there is no time frame for which this can be done. The probability of obtaining relief often depend...