Slowing Traffic - Compliance with Citations
There were over 15.3 million registered Florida drivers in 2018. Drivers don’t always obey traffic laws. Law enforcement officers write over 2.6 million tickets each year that then must be resolved through the courts. Despite the increases in population and traffic on Florida highways, citation filings have declined and continue to fall. In the 2014-15 budget year over 5.2 million traffic citations were filed. Citations decreased to 2.9 million in the following year and dropped to 2.6 million in 2016-17. The latest citation filings count issued for 2019-20 show a further decline to 1.89 million.
The citation decline is directly attributable to the COVID 19 pandemic. By March 11 of 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC), concluded that community spread of the virus had occurred in Florida. On April 1, Governor DeSantis issued an executive order to restrict activities within the state to those deemed as essential services and on April 11 the governor issued a stay at home order for Floridians.. The closures and restrictions account for the decline in citation filings of 700,000 in 2020.
Prior years also show a decline in filings. As reported by the Sun-Sentinel in 2018, fewer tickets were being written in South Florida due to staffing shortages. Officers also said they were relying more on educational efforts to curb poor driving habits. Additional reasons include the limits on red light camera tickets and the outlawing of ticket quotas for police officers.
According to a report published by Governing.com entitled, “Addicted to Fines”, a large number of small cities and counties across the country have been dependent on traffic ticket fines to meet local budget needs. In 2015 both the Florida House and Senate passed the so-called “Waldo Bill” (SB 264) which was signed by Gov. Rick Scott into law. The bill’s nickname comes from the city of Waldo, considered one of the nation’s worst speed traps. The City received nearly half of their budget by writing traffic citations.
Quotas resurfaced in 2017 in response to a Statewide Overtime Action Response initiative designed to improve public safety by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP). The program encouraged traffic enforcement and promoted an emphasis on writing more tickets. After public disclosure of the program, FHP discouraged both the practice and the use of traffic quotas.
Quotas were effective in enforcing valid traffic violations but public perception to these programs led to the closure of the practice. Without quota enforcement the state saw a large decline in traffic violations. State-wide ticket filings went from 5.2 million in 2014 to 2.9 million in 2015, the year the Governor signed the “Waldo Bill” (SB 264) into law.
Red Light Cameras
Florida passed the Mark Wandall Traffic Safety program into law in 2010 for remote Red Light Camera use in the enforcement of red-light violations. This technology enforcement device provided remote video capture of red-light violators at major traffic arteries. The intention was to reduce side car collisions caused by drivers speeding through heavily trafficked red-light intersections. The photo enforcement process captures the vehicle license plate to identify the driver. A citation is then produced and delivered to red light violators.
Initially, proponents of the program welcomed the idea of reducing red light violators and provided traffic safety. There are currently an estimated 638 red-light cameras operating in 63 Florida cities. There have been 350 red-light cameras removed over the past 10 years. Red light cameras do create driver awareness at intersections but at the same time create rear end collisions from motorists stopping suddenly behind vehicles braking to avoid a red-light ticket.
Representative Anthony Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the-Hills, has re-introduced legislation to ban “traffic infraction detectors” as those used for red-light cameras. Proposed House Bill 6009 would repeal 2010’s Senate Bill 294 which authorized state-wide red-light camera traffic enforcement. As indicated by an article published by Center Square, House staffers project that Florida governments could lose between $80 million and $100 million in ticket revenue if the red-light camera law is reversed.
High Cost of Fines & Pandemic Impacts to Traffic Enforcement
Traffic tickets help pay many different programs in government. Fewer tickets means less revenue creating uncomfortable decisions for state and local government operations. Public awareness to fine costs and an awareness by law enforcement towards abilities to pay has prompted an increasing number of verbal and written warnings issued rather traffic tickets. While some of these restrictions came prior COVID19, the pandemic has had a substantial effect on traffic enforcement. In the spring of 2020, the Miami-Dade area saw a reduction of 70% of tickets issued as drivers stayed off the roadways and law enforcement changed priorities to other policing matters.
Traffic citation filings are significantly down, and the collections once realized from these cases has been steadily shrinking. In 2019 Miami-Dade filed 693,624 traffic tickets. During 2020 that number dropped to 361,718 through the end of November. The challenge for decision makers is how to make the most with what’s left.
The most recent significant cause has been the impact of the COVID19 virus. This impact will continue into 2021 and should be reevaluated year by year to monitor a return to higher traffic filings. Additional factors will also limit filing growth. The Florida legislature is set to review removing red-light cameras as a traffic enforcement tool. Estimates in revenue decline are between $80 million and $100 million dollars. Clerks in Florida should be aware of declining traffic filing trends that will continue in the near future. An awareness of outside factors helps Clerks in operational planning. Traffic citations may have slowed down, but this proactive approach to traffic filings can reduce the impact.
Don Murphy is the Principal and Senior Consultant for Compliance Improvement Services (CIS) which provides consulting and training for courts and local government. He is a nationally certified court professional as a Fellow with the National Center for State Courts and has over 25 years of court administration experience.