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Published on Tuesday, March 2 2004
in the Miami Herald (
Thursday and Friday were not good days to drive aggressively in Florida.
The Florida Highway Patrol saturated roadways for a 48-hour period, issuing nearly 10,000 citations across the state for a range of traffic violations.
Troopers marked 663 of those as aggressive drivers.
Operation Safe Ride, modeled on a program started in the FHP troop that includes Broward, was prompted by public concern about aggressive driving and road rage, said FHP Lt. Colonel Ken Howes. ''It has never been done,'' Howes said Monday. ``Not in a concentrated effort like we did.''
Howes said officials had no idea what to expect, but came away satisfied with the results: 9,868 citations or arrests, including 4,748 for speeding and 264 for tailgating . ''We were very pleased with the enforcement total statewide for just two days,'' Howes said.
To issue an aggressive-driving citation, a trooper must see a driver commit at least two moving violations. When the driver is cited for those violations, the trooper checks an ''aggressive driving'' box.
No extra fines or points are levied, but a traffic court judge likely would give it consideration, FHP officials said.
Troop E, which covers Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, issued the most citations, with 2,115. Of those, 80 were for aggressive driving.
''The nice thing was that we hit everybody at once,'' said FHP Lt. Julio Pajon. ``There was no interstate in Dade County that was actually safe to speed in. Because we were everywhere.''
Broward is part of Troop L, which had the second-highest number, 1,559, with 92 cited for aggressive driving.
Lt. Roger J. Reyes, an FHP spokesman in Broward, got in on the operation, citing one man on Thursday for aggressive driving after he sped by Reyes' unmarked car at 109 mph while changing lanes.
Reyes pulled the man over, gave him a $271 ticket and explained the danger of driving aggressively.
''He promised that he would never ever do it again,'' Reyes said. 'Shook my hand and said, `Thank you.' ''