what are some of the local laws on street racing and aggressive driving? i think i know what they are but i'm not sure on the details.

i ask because i have to give a speech on aggressive driving tomorrow for class.

 

I believe it depends on where you are, but I've heard your car can be impounded, you can do time in jail, and you can be fined.

Two guys at work were caught street racing, were both handcuffed, but weren't arrested. They were issued a citation and a fine right there and were let go. This must have been a leniant police officer.

Type in "Florida Statutes" or "Online Sunshine" in a search engine and that'll bring up the FL laws on street racing.

 

And the crazy part is that it's all up to officer discretion as there is no definition of the crime "street racing". Two people can tromp on the gas leaving a light at the same time, even if they are just in a hurry and not trying to race and as long as it looks like you were racing you'll be subject to criminal charges. It's not a traffic ticket. It's criminal. We're talking criminal record, jail time and huge fines.

A perfect example of what happens when legislation gets pushed through just because of media publicity focusing on a few unrelated incidents. Did we need new laws? That's up for debate. If I'm correct though, we already had well defined laws about speeding and driving wrecklessly.

 

You can use this. Get pulled over doing 90 in a 45 and pay a 200+ dollar fine. While the cop is giving you the ticket, he'll tell you ( very loudly) that you could very well have gone to jail tonite. Then you'll always do 45 in the 45. I know this from experience.

 

I got pulled over and I wasn't racing, but the Officer thought I was. I had just goosed it a little, never exceeded the speed limit. He hands me a traffic citation for Street Racing, tells me that I can pay a fine, show up in court Blah, Blah, Blah. I decide to fight the ticket and schedule a court date. I show up in traffic court they tell me my hearing is at the Leon County Courthouse.

So I show up in court with a piece of paper, (my ticket), saying I'm charged with a traffic offense. Turns out it's a criminal offense they hand me a plea bargain that I can take:

1 yr Drivers License Suspension
Defensive Driving School
40 Hours of Community Service
$675.00 Fine
6mos Probation

All of this and I never even broke the speed limit. Anyways I'm a little upset as you might guess. I talk with the junior DA twice before I speak with the senior guy. THe junior guy keeps saying that what I did is a criminal offense. Finally I talk with the senior DA and he actually looks at my copy of the ticket. Long story short the clerk had called the office in to modify the ticket because street racing is now a criminal offense without telling me.
DA throws it out. I was lucky, if the cop had written the ticket properly I would have been spending a lot of money. My advice, DONT GET CAUGHT STREET RACING in Florida. This law also cover what used to be exhibition of speed, so it is fairly general. Spinning your tires could end up costing you big money.

 

Did that police officer mention anything to you about an improper start? This guy at work got a ticket for that (took off too fast) and a nice fine too. You're supposed to get up to the speed limit with the flow of traffic.

 

already did the speech and got the grade.... b+ (which is good for that teacher and my best speech grade yet)