|
Home Search |
Published on Friday, February 27, 2004
in the Osceola News Gazette
Responding to a public outcry about aggressive driving across the state, the Florida Highway Patrol launched an operation Thursday targeting violators.
Troopers in Central Florida were focusing full enforcement on some of the major roadways including Interstate 4, Florida's Turnpike and State Road 417 for motorists who were speeding, tailgating, driving or passing on the shoulder of the road and making unsafe lane changes.
The two-day campaign, "Operation Safe Ride," ended Friday.
"We have received numerous letters and e-mails from citizens and visitors complaining about aggressive drivers in every part of Florida, particularly in urban areas," said Col. Chris Knight, Florida Highway Patrol director. "As a result of the increasing numbers of these types of complaints, we have asked our 10 troop commanders throughout the state to dedicate every resource available to identify and cite, or in some cases, arrest individuals who are placing other motorists at risk of their aggressive driving behavior."
Troopers tracked violators using radar, video cameras, motorcycles and unmarked patrol vehicles.
They piloted seven patrol aircraft during daylight hours to spot offenders from the air and then direct troopers on the ground to make a traffic stop.
"If you’re not working a wreck, you're doing proactive enforcement," Trooper Kim Miller said Thursday.
A motorist must commit at least two moving violations in the presence of a trooper to be cited for driving aggressively. When a trooper conducts a traffic stop, the violating motorist will receive a traffic citation of the offenses committed and the trooper will mark an "aggressive driving" box on the citation.
"Although no additional fines or driver license points are assessed for aggressive driving, the patrol has found that traffic court judges, upon noticing that the trooper has checked the aggressive driving box on the citation, tend to impose higher fines or require that defendants take an eight-hour aggressive driving course," Miller said.
The patrol is planning to schedule additional operations throughout the year with a different selective enforcement theme, depending on specific enforcement needs, Miller said.
It wasn’t known how many tickets were written by Friday as patrol officials did not return calls by press time.