FIRST thing that went through my head was of course, "Oh no...!", etc. After a quick speed-scan, THAT was followed by relief, then a gathering "Huh?!" as I focused in on the actual precipitating "violation" that supposedly caused the cop to stop this fool (and ANYONE who drinks and drives THESE days is an irresponsible fool, in my book): "Changing lanes within 100 ft. of an intersection"?!! I lived in Florida a long time, in different eras, over the years, and NEVER was aware of this one...nor have I heard of it in other states or countries where I have ALSO driven and/or held a Driver's License. I drive a lot and advise anyone to observe the habits of other drivers out there: this action is performed continually, ALL THE TIME, including in front of police in their cruisers--and no one is stopped for it. People do a LOT of stupid things out on the roads, rude and careless things that endanger themselves and others, but this particular "offense" isn't among them, in my view (as long as they look first, properly and safely surrender right-of-way, and generally proceed with consideration and care).
Perhaps this charge was a convenient one to employ after-the-fact in order to rationalize the legality of the stop itself in the first place--maybe the officer "just had a feeling" based on other cues that caught his attention, aroused his suspicions and led to the stop, but he feared MIGHT not have breached the legal definition of "probable cause". Maybe he had been "burned" by this kind of "technicality" before, and/or had been advised of certain ways of thus making such stops and resultant arrests more solid. I have little patience or sympathy for ANYONE getting behind behind the wheel when they've been drinking, and even LESS for guys on our football team, where every one of the dangers (to innocent others, first, then to themselves, their reputation, their future, and THEIR TEAM) are amplified many times, but seldom does "the end justify the means"--and almost NEVER when it comes to justice and the laws of our land.
It already has more and more seemed that there is an over-zealous application of "the letter of the law" when it comes to at least some GPD officers and members of the Gator football team. The existence of obscure traffic laws sitting there on-the-books for convenient if unevenly enforced options "just in case we need 'em" to make it stick is a dangerous affront to fairness and due process, a kind of loophole there to circumvent the Bill of Rights, and all the Supreme Court rulings that formed precedents guaranteeing those rights.
Of course, there's a certain dark humor in the absolute stupidity of this particular drunken driver falsely claiming to be a member of the Gator football team, an affiliation that in this case was as likely to work AGAINST him--as anyone who has closely followed events surrounding our program the last few months should have been aware of.
However, there are serious overtones here, more evidence of both a possible problem with the local GPD specifically, and certain laws on the books, their aim and inconsistent implementation in the State of Florida, in general.
