I was privileged to listen to Ron Reagan speak today at the Sarasota Association of Realtors. Ron Regan has been our Florida House Representative since 2002 for district 67. He is also a local resident in Manatee County residing in the Lakewood Ranch area. Of course we talked about Real Estate issues but what really impressed me is the Bill he just had passed. On May 13, 2010 the Uniform Traffic Control Bill passed. The word for word definition is as follows…
Uniform Traffic Control: Preempts to state use of cameras to enforce traffic laws; authorizes counties & municipalities to use traffic infraction detectors under certain circumstances; creates Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Program; authorizes DHSMV, county, or municipality to use traffic infraction detector to identify motor vehicle that fails to stop at traffic control signal steady red light, etc.
To simplify, it allows counties in the state of Florida to enforce the traffic laws by using a detector, to identify vehicles that fail to stop at red light signals. They will not be at every light and it will be up to each county where and how many they put up. Some people may not like the idea of these in their areas but how would you feel if someone ran a red light and caused a fatal accident. I think this is great. If you are obeying the law and stopping on red you really shouldn’t care one way or the other. Unfortunately it only imposes a fine on the owner of the vehicle. No points are given and no criminal citation is filed.
I am the daughter of a great man that was lost almost five years ago due to a failure to stop. It was not an issue of running a red light but of someone not stopping before pulling out. The loss is the same. For all of you out there, who cares whether or not you will be fined by going through that red light. Just stop before you endanger others when you are in your rush to get from point A to B. Life is more important than being a minute or two late to your appointment.