Published on Wednesday, March 8, 2006
in the Ft. Myers News-Press

State troopers issue nearly 8,000 tickets

The Florida Highway Patrol handed out more than 7,700 citations to drivers statewide during its recent Operation Safe Ride, according to figures released Tuesday.

Thursday and Friday's operation marked the sixth phase of the initiative, which began in February 2004 in response to complaints by drivers about issues such as speeding and aggressive driving.

Southwest Florida is part of FHP's 10-county Troop F, which includes Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. Patrolling a combined 8,000 miles, Troop F amassed 843 tickets, including 480 for speeding, 73 for seat-belt and child-restraint violations and 20 for aggressive driving. Troopers also handed out 140 warnings and 61 faulty equipment notices.

"These traffic issues are a main ingredient in a lot of these fatalities we've been having," FHP Lt. Doug Dodson said. "This operation mostly focused on speeding."