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Impeding the flow of traffic, distracted driving, leaving a scene of an accident.
1. You can't be charged with impeding the flow of traffic if you are driving over the speed limit. 2. There is no law in Florida against using a cell phone for taking video when driving, unless you are texting with it at the same time. 3. She didn't leave the scene, but he did.
Impeding the flow of traffic, distracted driving, leaving a scene of an accident.
Here is the Florida statute regarding impeding traffic flow:
F.S. 316.081 Driving on right side of roadway; exceptions, added a new subsection which amended the law to clarify drivers may not drive slower than 10 mph below the posted speed limit when in the far left hand lane on roads with four lanes or more when the driver knows or reasonably should know another vehicle traveling at a greater speed is attempting to pass in that lane. It does not apply to drivers who are overtaking another vehicle proceeding in the same direction, or is preparing for a left turn at an intersection.
So, not guilty on the first charge.
Here's the relevant Florida statute for the second charge:
316.305(3)(a) A person may not operate a motor vehicle while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols, or other characters into a wireless communications device or while sending or reading data 1on such a device for the purpose of nonvoice interpersonal communication, including, but not limited to, communication methods known as texting, e-mailing, and instant messaging. As used in this section, the term “wireless communications device” means any handheld device used or capable of being used in a handheld manner, that is designed or intended to receive or transmit text or character-based messages, access or store data, or connect to the Internet or any communications service as defined in s. 812.15 and that allows text communications. For the purposes of this paragraph, a motor vehicle that is stationary is not being operated and is not subject to the prohibition in this paragraph.
In summary, texting and driving (or other forms of manaually manipulating text) is prohibited under Florida law; other cell phone uses (such as operating the camera), for better or worse, are not. What's more, the statute only "[a]uthorize[s] law enforcement officers to stop motor vehicles and issue citations as a secondary offense to persons who are texting while driving," meaning she can't be cited unless she was first pulled over and cited for some other offense. And finally, presuming the statute could be interpreted to prohibit using the camera while driving despite there being no language prohibiting such, the law provides an exception for "[r]reporting an emergency or criminal or suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities."
Conclusion: not guilty on the second count.
Finally, not only did she not leave the scene (at least for the duration of the video), nobody is obligated to remain at the scene of an accident they were not involved in. So, not guilty on the third charge.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bannedontherun
I'd throw in Attempted Aggravated Assault with a Motor Vehicle also.
...There is no law in Florida against using a cell phone for taking video when driving, unless you are texting with it at the same time...
Real life does not always go by what you are actually doing or what you actually did. It may appear that you did something and you can be charged and convicted for that!
Just a cop seeing someone grab their cell phone or adjust it may be enough to get stopped and charged with using a cell phone.
You go to court and it is the cop against you. Guess who the judge will listen to?
No it is not fair, but who ever said life was fair? It actually is QUITE common for people to be charged and convicted for things they did not do. Our justice system is not what people think.
As someone said above (some/most) pick up truck owners think they are driving some real hell of a sport car and they will do whatever it takes to prove that. I am glad someone ended against the pole.
Also I don't understand why it is OK to be agitated and do things like show fingers and lose temper because someone is driving in left lane at speed limit or even below? I do all the nasty stuff and partly responsible is that's driving in a complete rational manner?? That lady was not involved in that crash in any manner - are you guys saying she should have gone back and get out of the car and exchange insurance info??? Can you imagine the state of mind of that guy after all this? I would not go close at all.
I think she may well have provoked part of his rage by slowing down when he began to tailgate. But looking at the guy... the inbred face and his stupidity, he was clearly a goon as many reporters described him.
He tried to cut her off and lost control of his truck, probably due to the very slick road conditions the woman mentioned. He was VERY lucky he didn't hit an oncoming car when he went into the other lane. I'm still trying to figure out how he impacted the tree and light pole from his rear end.
Florida has a reputation for having about the worst drivers, even worse than New Jersey.
But Pa has our share, too.
I took my mother to the eye doctor a distance away yesterday and we hit a traffic backup. Coming the other way was a guy driving slowly on the shoulder of the road... his whole rear end was a mess. No taillights, trunk caved in, bumper smashed. I thought he was stupid or crazy. Then about two miles up the road I saw two cars being towed away, one had severe front end damage and the other one must have been involved to. I guess the police let him drive off and he probably wasn't at fault if he got rear ended. That was almost as bad as when I saw a car full of kids driving in a car with a shredded front right tire and severe front quarter panel damage. Stolen car, or leaving a hit and run, probably.
Her "maniac" behavior? Are we watching the same video? Her "maniac" behavior primarily involved maintaining a reasonable and relatively steady rate of speed in the left lane while passing traffic in the right lane. And there was more traffic in the right lane that she presumably intended to pass -- notice the whole reason he swerved in the first place was to avoid rear-ending the traffic he zoomed up on while he was driving like a maniac.
It's clear she's not trying to pass anybody. At the very beginning she is almost parallel with the small flatbed truck. The rear wheels of the flatbed keep appearing and disappearing from the field of view indicating she is carelessly impeding and preventing the pick up from passing her on the right.
It's clear she's not trying to pass anybody. At the very beginning she is almost parallel with the small flatbed truck. The rear wheels of the flatbed keep appearing and disappearing from the field of view indicating she is carelessly impeding and preventing the pick up from passing her on the right.
At this point it is obvious that you are either not watching the same video as I am or you are just seeing whatever it is you want to see. Not only is she clearly passing traffic in the right lane and maintaining a fairly consistent rate of speed as indicated by the rate at which the lane markers pass, but there is nothing "careless" about her behavior, much less comes anywhere close to rising to "attempted aggravated assault with a motor vehicle" as you have previously asserted. Her unwillingness to step it up to pass the other vehicle a bit quicker may have been annoying, it may have been frustrating, but there was nothing illegal, much less criminal, about it. That should be made obvious by the fact that the police have declined to cite her for anything. The pickup driver is 100% responsible for his own collision.
About the only thing you can fault this woman for was filming while behind the wheel instead of focusing on the task of driving, but I'll forgive her for that in this instance because a) it didn't interfere with her ability to maintain her speed and lane position, and b) it ended up capturing an act of epic dipsh*ttery for the world's amusement.
Both have fault here. Both were immature. Who the hell laughs at an accident like that. I would have pulled over to make sure he was OK. Someone could have been easily killed because of these TWO idiots.
It doesn't matter if you feel you are in the right, if someone wants to pass, just let them. Would she still be laughing if that truck went head on into a family of four?
It ain't worth it. It's not funny. There should be lessons learned here.
Location: The Circle City. Sometimes NE of Bagdad.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover
At this point it is obvious that you are either not watching the same video as I am or you are just seeing whatever it is you want to see. Not only is she clearly passing traffic in the right lane and maintaining a fairly consistent rate of speed as indicated by the rate at which the lane markers pass, but there is nothing "careless" about her behavior, much less comes anywhere close to rising to "attempted aggravated assault with a motor vehicle" as you have previously asserted. Her unwillingness to step it up to pass the other vehicle a bit quicker may have been annoying, it may have been frustrating, but there was nothing illegal, much less criminal, about it. That should be made obvious by the fact that the police have declined to cite her for anything. The pickup driver is 100% responsible for his own collision.
About the only thing you can fault this woman for was filming while behind the wheel instead of focusing on the task of driving, but I'll forgive her for that in this instance because a) it didn't interfere with her ability to maintain her speed and lane position, and b) it ended up capturing an act of epic dipsh*ttery for the world's amusement.
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) pick up truck owners think they are driving some real hell of a sport car and they will do whatever it takes to prove that. I am glad someone ended against the pole.
