SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – News 6 has been following cases in Seminole County when troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol have stopped drivers for going 50 mph or more over the speed limit, or over 100 mph.
We’ve counted at least seven arrests in just over a month. Five of the drivers were stopped on I-4, according to records obtained by News 6.
Two of them were in the express lanes, and two people accused of racing on motorcycles this weekend were pulled over for allegedly going 87 mph in a 35 mph zone.
Alexis Flanigan and Louis Ruiz Mercado were both stopped by the Florida Highway Patrol just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday near SR-434 and Rangeline Road. In an arrest report obtained by News 6, a trooper wrote that the pair were spotted side-by-side on BMW sport motorcycles, and “accelerated rapidly and produced an extremely loud exhaust noise.”
Both Flanigan and Ruiz Mercado were booked into jail on charges for street racing and excessive speed of over 50 mph.
Troopers have shared pictures on social media from other traffic stops in July when three people were arrested in Seminole County in a span of four days. One driver who was stopped in a Honda Civic for allegedly going 116 mph on I-4 in Lake Mary told the trooper who pulled him over that he thought he was racing him, according to FHP. Another driver was pulled over by troopers in a Dodge Challenger after they said he was going 155 mph in the I-4 express lanes in Altamonte Springs.
Dashcam video from that arrest shows smoke coming from the front of the car while it’s stopped on the shoulder. In the video the trooper can be heard asking the driver “How fast were you going?” He replies, “Like, 80,85.” The trooper responds, “80 and the car is smoking like that?”
Trooper Migdalisis Garcia tells News 6 that during the midnight shift, they tend to see higher speeds because there is less traffic, especially on I-4 or in the express lanes.
“This honestly has been happening almost every other night,” said Garcia.
Garcia says that they’re finding most drivers that are pulled over aren’t aware of the new law.
“They’re not realizing that it’s now more serious consequences like jail time,” said Garcia.
In dashcam video from a traffic stop in the I-4 express lanes in Altamonte in July, a trooper can be heard double and triple checking the statute before arresting the driver. Once he’s being placed in handcuffs, the trooper says, “you understand the law has changed, right?”
News 6 has also been tracking these cases as they enter the court system. Records show most drivers get out of jail with a $500 bond shortly after they are booked. They do have to pay for towing costs and their vehicles can be impounded for up to 30 days.
“And that is your fee to pay that toll yard,” said Garcia. “It would not be FHP’s fee to pay.”
We’ll keep following the cases — which are ongoing — as they move through the legal process.
Under the “Dangerous Excessive Speeding Act,” anyone convicted of operating a motor vehicle 50 mph or more above the posted speed limit, or driving 100 mph or more “in a manner that threatens the safety of other persons or property or interferes with the operation of any vehicle,” can be sentenced to a maximum of 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense.
Subsequent convictions for dangerous excessive speeding carry a sentence of up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Driving privileges can be revoked for up to a year if multiple convictions occur within a five-year period.
Preliminary data provided to News 6 by FHP Tuesday shows that 55 drivers across Central Florida have been arrested since July 1 under the following statutes:
316.1922. 1. a. “dangerous excessive speeding” as driving a vehicle in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property while exceeding the speed limit by 50 mph or more:
316.1922. 1. b. “dangerous excessive speeding” driving at 100 mph or more in a manner that endangers other
That includes Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Volusia, and Brevard.
Twenty-three of those drivers were arrested in Volusia County for going 100mph or more, according to FHP’s preliminary count.