Articles Posted in Traffic

Had the 30-year-old driver stopped immediately for the Delray Beach police officer who attempted to pull him over late last month, he would probably have probably been arrested for driving without a valid license.

It’s likely he would have also gotten a citation for driving without a seat belt. He probably also would have been charged with possession of marijuana, as he had a small baggie in the console of his vehicle.

Instead, our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers have learned, he chose to flee. It did not turn out well for him, or especially other motorists.

Now, he is facing a number of felony charges, including driving without a license causing serious injury or death, fleeing causing serious injury or death, failure to remain at the scene of a crash and reckless driving causing bodily injury. Additionally, he’s charged with resisting an officer and possession of marijuana.

This is all going to add up to a potentially lengthy sentence if convicted. We’re talking about:

—Florida Statute 316.027, Crashes involving death or personal injuries. Failure to remain at the scene of a crash with personal injury is a third-degree felony, punishable by a maximum five years in prison.

—Florida Statute 316.192, Reckless driving. When someone is driving recklessly and such action results in serious bodily injury to another, it’s also a third-degree felony, punishable by five years in prison.

—Florida Statute 322.43, Driving while license suspended, revoked, canceled or disqualified. This is normally a second-misdemeanor, punishable by up to two months in jail for a first-time conviction. It’s bumped up to a third-degree felony if it’s a third or subsequent conviction for the same offense or if while driving on a suspended license, one carelessly or negligently operates a motor vehicle in a manner that results in serious injury or death.

—Florida Statute 316.1935, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer; aggravated fleeing or eluding. If you flee from a police officer with wanton disregard for public safety and cause someone to be seriously injured or die, it’s a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

So just with the felonies, we’re talking about a situation where someone went from facing maybe a year or two behind bars – tops – to facing more than 45 years in prison.

We can’t purport to know exactly what was going through this defendant’s mind. However, what we do know is that past similar cases almost always involve fear and panic. This man didn’t want to go back to jail, a place he’d been some two dozen times since 2000.

Here’s what reportedly happened:
An officer in Delray Beach reportedly attempted to pull this man over for failure to wear his seat belt. It was shortly after 8 p.m. on a Tuesday. The officer didn’t turn on his overhead lights until the defendant reportedly attempted to suddenly speed away, presumably after noting the officer following him.

The driver reportedly sped away at speeds of up to 50 miles-per-hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone. He blew through a stop sign. At that intersection, a 39-year-old woman was driving her 11-year-old son home from a haircut. The vehicles collided. The fleeing driver ultimately struck a utility pole, which broke in half and knocked out power to the surrounding neighborhood.

The 11-year-old suffered minor injuries, as did the fleeing driver. The mother, however, suffered critical, life-threatening injuries. She is expected now to recover, but she may continue to be in the hospital for some time in intensive care.

The fleeing driver jumped out of his vehicle and ran. An officer chased him on foot and soon caught him. He was booked into Palm Beach County Jail, with a bond set at $65,000.

The bottom line is that fleeing almost always makes the situation worse. This man might have been arrested anyway, but he could have spent the money he’s now shelling out on bond for an experienced attorney and been much better off. The fight for his freedom is now much further uphill.
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South Florida traffic tickets are becoming less of a commonality these days, according to a recent report by The Sun-Sentinel. But part of the likely reason behind it has to do with the fact that more people are fighting them.

Palm Beach traffic ticket defense attorneys know that in years past, people might have simply paid the ticket because of the hassle, regardless of whether they were actually at fault. However, a sluggish economy has people counting every dime, and they can no longer afford to simply write it off – particularly when they haven’t done anything wrong.

The newspaper reports that the number of Palm Beach County traffic citations dipped to approximately 370,000 last year. That’s a steep decline compared to the nearly 400,000 issued the year before and the more than 430,000 given out in 2008.

It’s the same story in Broward County, where troopers issued about 480,000 traffic citations in 2011 – a dramatic decrease since 2007, when there were nearly 565,000 issued.

Across the state, there were roughly 4.3 million traffic citations issued last year. Contrast that with the 5.2 million handed out five years ago.

Some have speculated that part of this also has to do with the fact that people are simply driving less. That would agree with figures that also show auto accidents are down across the state. Gas prices and overall falling incomes have kept more people at home, shying away from entertainment activities such as shopping or taking vacations.

Theories abound whether less traffic on the road means that people are less likely to engage in risky driving behaviors. Some also surmise that budget cuts to police services have meant fewer officers on the road and that those officers who remain are less likely to give tickets because they know how much a violation could cost someone.

While it’s true that these might all play at least some role, the fact of the matter is that three years ago the state legislature bumped up fines for traveling between 15 and 19 miles over the speed limit from $198 to $233. Most of those are due within a month. At a time when people are struggling to pay basic expenses such as groceries and gas, they’re less likely to simply fork over the cash. And with insurance companies looking for any excuse to jack up your premiums, fighting a ticket is often the best option.

The decision of whether you should fight a traffic ticket should be discussed with your Fort Lauderdale traffic ticket attorney. Some things he or she may consider include:

1. What exactly are you charged with, and what elements of those violations can be proven?

2. Was the officer’s view of what happened obstructed by either stationary objects or other moving vehicles? You could argue that the officer’s line of sight prevented him or her from clearly seeing the alleged events.

3. Is it possible that the officer stopped the wrong vehicle? Particularly in heavy traffic, there is always the possibility that the officer mistook your vehicle for another similar one. You might be able to prove this particularly if there was some sort of curve in the road, a construction project or simply heavier traffic that could have prevented him or her from clearly identifying which vehicle was at fault.

4. Were speed limit or other traffic warning signs not appropriately visible?

Another element that may work in your favor if you choose to fight the ticket is if the officer simply fails to show up to court. Officers miss traffic court appearances all the time, so this is a real possibility that you may consider. In fact, just hiring an attorney to contest the charges is often enough to win a reduction or dismissal.
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It happens often that I am approached with the question: Can you beat red-light camera tickets? Many motorists were rightfully nervous when the first influx of red-light cameras began to appear in Broward, Dade, and Palm Beach. This was the first time in Florida history that a motorist could be cited for a traffic infraction without ever even knowing it happened. Flashing red lights in the rear view mirror were to become a thing of the past. Now, local governments including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Pembroke Pines, Coral Springs, and Boca Raton are on a new track to increase revenues for their municipalities. It was argued by local leaders that the new red-light cameras will increase traffic safety. After all, isn’t it the responsibility of our government to keep us safe? Although local leaders are proud to say that their move to institute red-light cameras was based on keeping people safe the reality is that the move was instituted on the notion that cities need money: and this is a great way to make money.
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Florida Highway Patrol Officer Paul C. Lawrence was sentenced to 364 days in jail today. As you may remember, Trooper Paul C. Lawrence was arrested for fraudulently writing hundreds (maybe thousands) of fake traffic tickets to motorists in South Florida. Trooper Paul C. Lawrence was bold enough to write traffic tickets to motorists he had never even pulled over, some of whom were even not in the Country when the citations were written.

Please click to read about Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Paul C. Lawrence and his fraudulent traffic tickets.

In this case, it appears that Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Paul C. Lawrence will face the punishment of 364 days in the county jail for his actions. Lawrence was originally charged by the Office of the State Attorney with multiple felony counts. However, as part of the plea agreement, all the felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors.

It appears to me that this story reveals two things for sure. First, it could not be clearer that South Florida law enforcement does in fact have a “quota” system. South Florida Law Enforcement has long denied that any form of quota system is used. However, there appears to be no other incentive for the actions of Trooper Lawrence other than allowing himself to maintain his quota by falsifying traffic tickets.
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The victims of Trooper Paul C. Lawrence, 38, of the Florida Highway Patrol were shocked when they learned that they had pending traffic citations or that suspensions had been issued on their Florida drivers license for failure to appear in court. Most of the Florida Highway Patrol Trooper’s victims were not even on the road when the traffic citations were written alleging a slew of traffic violations. Others were not even in the United States when the traffic citations were issued.

The Trooper now faces 22 counts of official misconduct, a third degree felony. So far, over 211 traffic citations written by Lawrence have been dismissed. It appears as though the Florida Highway Patrol Trooper used information from previous traffic stops in order to manufacture the false citations. According to the Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson, “there is no incentive for him to do that because Florida Highway Patrol does not use a quota system.”

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