By Meghan Bensted, Esq.

Now What?? You’ve been arrested for a DUI?

After being arrested for a DUI, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) will automatically suspend you driver’s license but, for 10 days, your traffic ticket will serve as your “license” to drive on Florida’s highways.  After 10 days, your driving privileges will be suspended, so you must request a DMV administrative hearing within (10) days of your arrest. At that hearing, you can ask for a hardship license, authorizing you to drive to the grocery store, the laundry, to work and to school.  If you fail to do so, your license could be suspended for up to one year, and the request for a hardship license may be denied for an extended time!

You should always request an administrative review and always bring a lawyer with you to that hearing.  This hearing is extremely important and gives your lawyer  a chance to hear the evidence the police have against you.

This is because, in Florida, the penalties related to a DUI offense are serious, and the penalties accumulate with every additional conviction.  Did you know, if you have a few serious traffic violations and then get charged with a DUI you could be classified as a “habitual traffic offender,” and there is a possibility you could lose your license for five years?!  Therefore,

• Don’t plead guilty      or no contest to drunk driving until you’ve had a DUI defense attorney  look at your case.
• Don’t pay traffic tickets without talking with a lawyer – By doing so you may be admitting guilt to a serious      driving violation.

Time is of the essence. Contact Myers & Associates for an immediate free case review.  Your review will be confidential and is offered at no cost or obligation.

Written by Meghan M. Bensted, Esquire

Texting while driving is now illegal in Florida.  However, the distracted drivers won’t disappear as talking on your cell phone is still legal in Florida.

On May 28, 2013, Governor Rick Scott passed the Senate Bill 52, which he said would make the state’s roads safer.  In his statement, he stated, “As a father and grandfather, texting while driving is something that concerns me and my loved ones are on the road.” [sic] So what does this mean for you?

Florida has become the 40th state to outlaw texting while driving.  The bill, SB 52, creates the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law,” which makes texting while driving a secondary offense.

The new law will ban operating a motor vehicle “while manually typing or entering multiple letters, numbers, symbols, or other characters into a wireless communications device or while sending or reading data in such a device for the purpose of non-voice interpersonal communication, including, but not limited to, communication methods known as texting, emailing and instant messaging.”

The ban allows texting while stopped at a red light. It includes tablets and computers, but excludes using a “text-to-talk” feature.

The first violation is punishable as a nonmoving violation, with a fine of $30 plus court cost that vary by county.   A second or subsequent violation committed within 5 years after the first is a moving violation punishable by a $60 fine plus court costs.

The bill allows for the admissibility of a person’s wireless communications device billing records or written statements from appropriate authorities receiving such messages as evidence in the event of a crash resulting in death or personal injury.

In addition to the fines, a violation of the unlawful use of a cell phone which results in a crash will result in 6 points added to the offender’s driver’s license record and the unlawful use of the cell phone while committing a moving violation within a school safety zone will result in 2 points added to the offenders license record in addition to points for the moving violations.

These provisions take effect October 1, 2013.

           Mr. Hastings Read has moved onto a post at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and we wish him all the best fortune in the world.  He’ll be missed.  Ms. Meghan M. Bensted has come aboard and will quickly assume Hastings’s duties.  She comes as a 2012 graduate of the Florida State University, College of Law, and we welcome her.