Florida sued for ticketing motorists who warn others of speed traps
- Thread starter BonBCobra
- Start date
$15,000 in damages is a bit extreme...but how could they ever confirm it was for that reason only..for all they know you accidently did it, etc etc
I hope they win the suit. Flashing your lights tells people to slow down. You're doing the cops a favor in my opinion.
Good stuff. Wish I would have gotten pulled over..$15,000 would do some good for my car lol
this has already been through a number of courts and it was deemed protected free speech. here is a post on anothe forum from Feb that covers a bunch of states
...warning oncoming motorists...
...warning oncoming motorists...
Flashing your lights can also mean you're asking oncoming cars to put on their daytime running lights. Think about it. All new cars have running lights for daytime use. Who is to say a driver was just reminding an oncoming driver to put his on. IMO that law is a weak one in court. Cops up here used to cite drivers who did that but I haven't heard it being done nearly as much. Maybe for good reason.
Its messing up their money making scheme. Cant have that. Like said above. If they werent doing it to make money they would appreciate motorist warning other motorist to slow it down.
LE is a business just like any other.
LE is a business just like any other.
The way I see this is:
Even if people ARE signaling to other drivers that there's a speed trap a head, what is the problem? It sounds like the only problem here is, they feel like they could be missing out on some ticket and court fee's so they will get it by... writing a ticket for something as stupid as this. Why does the car have to make it to the cop in order for it to be lawfully? Someone flashing their lights at oncoming vehicles could very well help avoid speeding accidents prior to that person making it all the way up to the cop. They should see this as a service...
Even if people ARE signaling to other drivers that there's a speed trap a head, what is the problem? It sounds like the only problem here is, they feel like they could be missing out on some ticket and court fee's so they will get it by... writing a ticket for something as stupid as this. Why does the car have to make it to the cop in order for it to be lawfully? Someone flashing their lights at oncoming vehicles could very well help avoid speeding accidents prior to that person making it all the way up to the cop. They should see this as a service...
Think about how many people who are wanted for crimes or are driving without insurance or whatever else are caught each year, because of what started as a simple traffic stop? In my eyes you may just have warned a criminal who would of otherwise been stopped and apprehended.
If that's the case, might as well just do random stops for no reason. **** investigating. Let's rely on luck. Call it: "Crime Roulette."
IDK about you, but I've yet to see a car with manual DRLs. They come on automatically.
I've also never flashed my lights to remind someone to put on their DRLs, and I doubt many other people have.
I haven't either, but I have flashed my lights, and been flashed, for deer and road debris.
Yea, cops cant catch criminals on their own so somehow warning a driver about a speed trap (i've also flashed my lights at drivers when I see deer on the road) is against the law.
That's simply a silly argument.
Florida has some stupid laws. Including the "It's your fault if you rear end someone" law. Dealing with a nightmare myself here. Was headed home from work the other night, and some woman in a Jeep thought it would be a great idea to park at a green light with no signals or brake lights on, whatsoever. God knows what the hell she was doing, but after the collision, when I went to go check on her, her cellphone was on her lap :nonono:. By the time I noticed she was stationary, I tried to jump lanes, but there was oncoming traffic behind me. So I had to get on the brakes. Needless to say, you all know what happened next. No offense, to any LEOs out there, but the officer that did the report, fabricated it so all of the blame falls on me. He didn't even mention in there the fight he had to break up with her and her hick boyfriend:dw:, which is who she was probably texting at the light :cuss:. Never ran any sobriety tests on us either.
This law can basically put you in a position where, someone can just jump in front of your car, get on the brakes and leave you liable for bullshit. :nonono:
This law can basically put you in a position where, someone can just jump in front of your car, get on the brakes and leave you liable for bullshit. :nonono:
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I have heard of people getting pulled over for this and have always been apprehensive of flashing my lights because if it. I never looked at it from a free speech standpoint, but I'm not surprised that there isn't a statute against it.
so you rear ended a car at a stoplight and think it was not your fault? you would have been ticketed in ANY state.
I've never stopped anyone for flashing lights to warn others. :shrug:
It's kinda like cat and mouse to me, I'll try to use any advantage I can think of to catch them. If the driver gets a warning then oh well, he still slowed down. We all win. I don't have to write a ticket and traffic is proceeding at a safer pace.
It's kinda like cat and mouse to me, I'll try to use any advantage I can think of to catch them. If the driver gets a warning then oh well, he still slowed down. We all win. I don't have to write a ticket and traffic is proceeding at a safer pace.
Yes, they come on automatically, but you can turn them off. I do it all the time in my '11 Buick LaCrosse. They can be turned off manually. They can be turned on manually.
Yeah! Let's harass the innocent on hopes of finding the guilty. What a brilliant idea!
Ok, end sarcasm mode, but it's the best defence against stupid.
How about we only stop those that are careless or reckless driving and are immediate threats to society and leave the rest of us alone. Of course this makes the job of traffic enforcement and road tax collection actual work.
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