Florida's worst drivers will have to retake driving test

Rack up three crash-related tickets in three years and you'll be back behind the wheel -- for a driving test -- under a new Florida law that becomes effective Jan. 1.

BY STEVE BOUSQUET

Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida will soon start sending some of the state's worst drivers back to school.

A new state law will require any motorist convicted of three crash-related moving violations over a three-year period to take a behind-the-wheel education course and pass a driving test, just like a teenager.

The little-noticed crackdown on chronically bad drivers becomes effective next Jan. 1. It was signed last month by Gov. Charlie Crist.

''These people have demonstrated a propensity not only for crashing but for being at fault,'' said Electra Bustle, executive director of the state highway safety agency.

``If we can change even one person's driving behavior to avoid a crash, then I think we'll be successful.''

Highway safety officials will begin counting violations starting in January, so previous incidents won't be considered.

Still, department officials have identified more than 3,200 drivers who currently fit in the most dangerous category.

Statistically, they are most likely to be white men, age 40 or younger, and are clustered in the state's urban centers. Although men make up 52 percent of the drivers, they account for 64 percent of these bad drivers.

Kevin Bakewell, senior vice president of AAA Auto Club South in Tampa, said the change is a positive development.

''For some people, paying a fine for violating a traffic law does not serve as a disincentive,'' Bakewell said.

``Hopefully, the act of having to take that driving test will have some positive impact on that person's driving behavior.''

Current law requires a four-hour refresher course for drivers cited in two crashes, but the course can be taken on the Internet and does not include behind-the-wheel training.

Contrary to stereotypes, the Florida drivers most likely to be cited repeatedly for causing accidents are not elderly. Only 7 percent are over 65; more than a third are under age 25.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has identified 3,277 drivers who were involved in 10,281 accidents over a three-year period ending Dec. 31, 2008.

Of that total, 595 have at least one conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol.

A federal privacy law prohibits the state from disclosing the names of the worst drivers, but the state knows who they are and where they live.

Miami-Dade, the state's most populous county, was home to the largest number of dangerous drivers in 2008, with 378. Jacksonville's Duval was right behind with 372.

Pinellas and Hillsborough rank third and fourth with Broward fifth.

 

Sounds good to me

 

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

Thank god! Our drivers are the worst.

 

Agreed

 

Living in Duval county, I can totally back that up. People here constantly amaze me. There are a few notorious places that seem to always invite accidents too. One is near my home and there are always accidents around that intersection.

 

they should implement this in all big cities.

so many douchebags make left and right turns without signaling.
like they're so lazy to stretch their finger and hit the signal stick.

that's how accidents happen.

If i were the governor, I'd add a clause to the 3 strikes law - if you cause 3 accidents, you have to get punched 3x by a professional boxer

 

Not surprising in the least. The is exactly the group of drivers most likely to be in high-performance cars, speeding, and evading the law with radar/laser detectors. It is also a group that is often careless with alcohol, and tends to drink and drive.

 

sounds good

 

Sounds like a cult, amazing how all those traits could be grouped together into hell on wheels. That's some group, I'll be sure to stay away. The next Fast and Furious of DeathRace movie should include this "group of drivers".

But beyond the hyperbole, I think what OP posted sounds productive.

 

I hardly see any drivers in that group.

I see more stupid idiot clumsy drivers who shouldn't have passed the driving test at all.
....people who look only left when coming out of a driveway and making a left turn across a double yellow line, neglecting all the traffic coming from the right.
the same dumbasses who don't look both ways when crossing a street.

 

Of course it is not universal. Not all younger males are dangerous or accident-prone, by any means. And, in fact, me and a couple of my teen-age friends, when we were in high school, did one or two dumb things, but, in general were pretty sensible behind the wheel. Unfortunately (and I'm not just looking for excuses to point fingers here), many others in our age group weren't......and aren't. A number of them, as drivers, scared the hell out of me....and their driving records went on to show it. There are strong reasons why, in general, unmarried males under 25 pay the highest insurance rates. That's the group that costs the insurance companies the most in accidents/claims.

 

They're there. The insurance statistics prove it.


Agreed. Careless driving is not limited to young people by any means. And, to be fair, many older people don't have the sharp vision, hearing, or reflexes that younger ones do. But, to compensate, they are usually going slower, so that when they ARE involved in (or cause) an accident, the amount of damage done often much less because of lower impact speeds and less likelihood of rolling over.

 

A lot of hype and stereotypes creeping in here. Of course the insurance stats show the danger with drivers at the extreme ends of the age spectrum (like under 25 and at the other end senile), agreed these extremes have an unusually high rate of accidents. And back on OT, the OP's article shows a attempt at reeling in these problems.

 

I have no problem with it. I see people all the time on the Turnpike especially and also on I75 and they are speeding and on the phone (not bluetooth) or texting, and I know that's a recipe for disaster, not just DUI.

They are much worse here than I ever saw in Mexico City.