On a hot day, nothing beats hopping on the boat and enjoying the beautiful waterways of Northwest Florida. With such excursions come great responsibilities, however, as boaters face several hazards not present on Florida roads. Unfortunately, many residents treat boating and drinking as inextricably linked, with boats regarded as the perfect setting for kicking back…
As one of the largest states in the country, it should perhaps come as no surprise that Florida suffered from 797 drunk driving fatalities in 2015. Between 2003 and 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 8,476 Florida deaths resulted from crashes that included a drunk driver. Based purely on the number…
According to a recent 2016 study released by SmartAsset, Florida drivers are ranked as the worst in the nation. One of the reasons Florida ranks so highly is its DUI arrest rate, which is 4.45 DUI arrests per 1,000 drivers. Even so, Florida’s number of DUI arrests is actually lower than other states, but Florida also…
Much ado has been made about Governor Scott’s looming decision regarding Florida’s “liquor wall” law. Early in 2017, the Florida legislature approved a bill — SB 106 — that would repeal Florida’s decades-old liquor wall law, which required hard liquor to be sold in separate facilities from groceries and other goods. Opponents of the bill pushed Gov. Scott…
Florida law prevents people suspected of drunken driving from refusing to take a blood-alcohol test. While Florida and at least a dozen states overall make such a refusal a crime, the Supreme Court has recently expressed its doubts on the constitutionality of these laws. Supreme Court justices heard arguments in April of 2016 that challenged…
If laws are meant to serve as a deterrent force with penalties severe enough to prevent unlawful behavior, then Florida’s drinking and driving laws are failing. This, at least, is the opinion of various detectives and grieving Floridians who have been negatively affected by the harms of drunk driving. Despite Florida’s active police presence and…
