Eric J Dirga
ORLANDO, FL, September 30, 2009
/24-7PressRelease/ -- Despite the fact that the Florida version of Racing on Highway criminal statute has been found unconstitutional law enforcement continues to jail people for this offense. Although one case conflicts with the decision to find the Racing statute unconstitutional the Florida Supreme Court has not addressed this confusion while arrests continue.
On October 1, 2002, Florida joined several other states by adopting a criminal statute designed to penalize drivers engaged in unauthorized street racing. The statute was adopted from a "form" statute that had been approved in other states (It should be noted that it had also been disapproved in an equal amount of other states).
The wording of the statute was quickly attacked by criminal defense attorneys around the state for its vagueness and lack of clarity regarding what exactly was being prohibited and how it was being charged. The statute was so poorly written that several forms of "racing" were actually identical to civil infractions (traffic tickets which carried a civil fine). Some of these definitions were and continue to be:
• "To prevent another motor vehicle from passing" which is actually a prohibition found under the civil infraction "overtaking and passing a vehicle," §316.083(2), Fla. Stat.
• "Exhibition of speed or acceleration" which can be one of several infractions most notably speeding or improper start.
Some definitions of racing were simply just ridiculous making innocent conduct illegal:
• "To arrive at a given destination ahead of another motor vehicle" - defines innocent conduct.
• "To outgain or outdistance another motor vehicle" - defines passing?
On September 12, 2007, the Fourth District Court of Appeal (West Palm Beach, Florida) in the case of State v. Wells, 965 So.2d 834 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007), finally agreed with the Criminal Defense Bar and stated "it is constitutionally impermissible for the Legislature to use such vague and broad language that a person of common intelligence must speculate about its meaning and be subject to arrest and punishment if the guess is wrong." Charges for Racing were quickly being dismissed after the Wells decision.
Because of Wells, the 2008 Florida Legislature was prepared to amend the Racing on Highway statute but during the legislative session another case came out of the First District Court. In Reaves v State, 979 So.2d 1066 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008), the Court said that the Racing statute was not vague. The court, through a series of mental gymnastics, explained the statute's validity based on "statutory construction," a nebulous area of the law that most lawyers can't readily determine much less a person of "common intelligence." Once Reaves entered the fray the amendments to the statute were withdrawn and the original vague statute remained on the books.
Today people continue to be arrested for Racing based on the original vague statute. I continue to represent people who went to jail for exceeding the speed limit, going around a corner with bald tires (squealing), or starting quickly from a stop. The statute continues to be a patchwork of overlapping civil infractions and innocent conduct, and enforcement remains arbitrary. Checking the Florida Supreme Court's docket there is no review scheduled to resolve the conflict between Wells and Reaves and Floridians and visitors will continue to have to guess at whether or not passing the car ahead of them will result in an arrest.
Eric J Dirga is a Central Florida Criminal Defense Attorney. He has defended people charged with racing since it was made into a criminal offense. He continues to challenge the constitutionality of Florida's Racing statute and the intelligence of legislators. For more information regarding racing please visit
www.ejdirga.com. To speak with Eric J Dirga please call 407 841-5555, Office Orlando.
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