Florida Highway Patrol Steps Up Extortion from Motorists

Increasing the number of speeding tickets issued is not about highway safety. Don't beleive for a moment that it is. Speeding does not cause accidents. Even law enforcement officials admit this. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, "[d]river distraction or error, in combination with not wearing a seat belt, caused a majority of the area's fatal crashes." Yet, the ticket you get for speeding is more expensive than the ticket you get for reckless driving. The reason enforcement officers give out speeding tickets is to generate revenue. Outside of actual crashes, speeding is the easiest thing for them to document.

It's all about the money, and I get offended when the police try to tell us that it isn't. If you see someone weaving in traffic, tailgating, or otherwise being unsafe, by all means pull them over and ticket them. Generating revenue for your department by issuing speeding tickets makes you little better than a parasite, except where speeding causes a clear an present danger to pedestrians.

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