Tampa’s Ticket-at-Every-Crash Policy

Give them a ticket anyway…

A friend was involved in a minor, un-witnessed accident that caused $50 in damage to her car.  She and the other driver disagreed on the accident circumstances, each proclaiming the other caused the accident.  The minor crash did not require a police investigation.  Nonetheless, a Tampa officer investigated the minor crash and informed my friend that he did not know which driver violated a traffic law; however, he was required to give one of them a ticket.  He informed her that he had selected her as the “recipient.”  The officer then wrote a crash report that omitted my friend’s statements, to justify the ticket, but the vehicle speeds documented on the report support my friend’s statement of circumstances.  The other driver then used the police documentation to make a claim from my friend’s insurance company.

Failing to yield the right of way

My neighbor was stopped in a median, waiting to make a left turn, when a car ran into her from the opposite direction.  The other driver then made a call reporting that he would be going to jail, as he just caused a crash while driving under the influence of marijuana.  My neighbor said the other driver smelled of marijuana and was unable to provide the investigating Tampa officer with any identifying information, claiming the vehicle was not his – thus no driver’s license, registration or insurance.  The officer told my neighbor she was unconcerned with the marijuana use and then gave my neighbor a ticket for failing to yield the right of way.  My neighbor asked to speak to the officer’s supervisor, and the officer refused.  A crash report has never been located for this crash.  My neighbor subsequently experienced a large auto insurance increase.  The Tampa police pension does not profit from ticketing uninsured drivers.

Collecting from the captain’s insurance

One of my graduate students, who is an Air Force captain, was rear-ended in a minor crash and he received the ticket.  His crash report incorrectly states that his car sideswiped the other, meaning the investigating officer misrepresented the points of impact.  His ticket was dismissed, as the other driver attended the hearing and admitted to rear-ending the captain’s car.  However, the other driver had already used the police information to collect from the captain’s insurance company, precipitating a large auto insurance increase.

Making things up

Another of my students was rear-ended, and received a careless driving ticket.  He had stopped at a stop sign, then accelerated to about 25 mph and then slowed to about 20 mph, as the area was crowded with pedestrians (since adjacent bars had just closed).  The officer claimed my student had stopped abruptly to wave to a friend.  My student told the officer that no one claimed this and there was no friend present.  Nonetheless, the officer documented this on the ticket and crash report, which also documented skid markets from the rear car only.  My student’s car was a total loss, but the other driver’s insurance company paid only 80 percent of his claim, due to the ticket, even though it was dismissed.   

Sideswiped

A co-worker reports her son’s car had been sideswiped.  She went to the scene of the accident, as the crash was being investigated.  The officer gave her son a ticket for rear-ending the other car, which is also stated on the crash report.  My co-worker explained to the officer that the front of her son’s car had no damage and only the side was damaged, meaning it was not a rear-end crash.  She reports that the Tampa officer told her that if she spoke to him further, he would arrest her, which she believes is because she is Hispanic.  The ticket was dismissed; however, the insurance companies still attributed “fault” to her son due to the police documentation.

Did I ticket the correct driver?

I observed an accident, but was not in the affected traffic.  Nonetheless, I called the Tampa police, asking to have the officer call me if he needed a witness.  He did not have a witness, and was not informed I had observed the accident until after writing the ticket and crash report.  The officer told me both drivers claimed to have a green light and he did not know which was telling the truth.  Regardless, his supervisor ordered a ticket issued to the driver who claimed to turn left when the left-turn arrow was green.  The officer told me his supervisor had him write a ticket for careless driving with the crash report suggesting the left-turn arrow did not exist.  Hence, the driver received a careless driving ticket for violating the right of way when turning.  The officer then asked me whether he had ticketed the correct driver.

Just ticket both drivers

In my federal lawsuit, Officer Edward Bowden said in his deposition that he was trained as follows: if not knowing which driver ran a red light, he was to ticket both drivers and document both as running the red light on the crash report, using two separate diagrams.  Obviously, probable cause cannot exist to ticket both drivers, when only one could have committed the infraction.   
A Tampa officer told me that he investigated a major crash, but could not determine which driver ran the red light.  Both drivers appeared credible when claiming to enter the intersection on a green light.  Nonetheless, the officer’s supervisor told him to choose one of the two drivers and issue a ticket, which also required documenting on the crash report that the driver ran the red light, causing a major crash.  I explained to the officer that this was not legal.  The officer responded that they are ordered to do this by supervisors.  He was hopeful that I could get the policy changed, stating he did not want to do this again.