Trenton’s Law is set to take effect in this state, tightening convictions for drivers who continue to display unlawful driving conduct on the roads. Keeping the roads safe by reducing road traffic accidents and fatalities requires all road users to feel a sense of responsibility towards their fellow road users, taking it upon themselves to continue to follow the laws of the road, even if it may be tempting to break them. By doing so, drivers maintain mutual respect towards each other and prioritize the lives of all.
The challenge of implementing personal responsibility
When it comes to ensuring that the laws of the road are kept and followed, the biggest challenge facing authorities and lawmakers is implementing a sense of personal responsibility among drivers, as the effectiveness of road laws, their associated penalties, and safety interventions all rest upon whether or not drivers are willing to take accountability and ownership of their actions.
Because certain road traffic violations are perceived according to relative risk, such as speeding, and the fact that it is easy to break them when there are no road traffic authorities present, it is very tempting for drivers to continue to break these laws. However, doing so risks both your life and the lives of others. Because of this refusal to take on personal responsibility towards other drivers, lawmakers are often forced to put severe penalties in place for those who are convicted of road traffic violations as a means to deter the behavior.
Trenton’s Law is to go into effect in this state
One traffic violation that has some of the biggest consequences for other drivers on the road is a conviction of driving under the influence (DUI). Across states, DUIs have some of the most severe punishments, such as high fines, jail time, and even the suspension of your license in its entirety. This is because driving while impaired drastically reduces reaction time, judgment, and coordination. This exponentially increases the risk of fatal crashes. One of the most significant pieces of education drilled into young drivers pertains to the importance of always ensuring that the driver behind the wheel of a vehicle is sober, alter, and aware.
To continue to stamp out DUI practice, Florida House Bill 687 (‘Trenton’s Law’) recently went into effect, whereby drivers who are convicted of a DUI can now receive a maximum prison sentence of thirty years, an increase from the previous fifteen years. Vehicular homicide charges will also now carry a lifetime license suspension of repeat offendors. Trenton’s Law was passed following the death of eighteen-year-old Trenton Stewart, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2023.
“My heart is always with prevention,” said Mandi Stewart, Trenton’s mom on the passing of the new legislation. “I feel like Trenton should be here, because I think our system could have done better.”
States continue to come down hard on unlawful driving
Across the country, states are increasing the severity of penalties associated with unlaw driving practices as a means to continue to discourage drivers from continuously breaking the law. Many of these new pieces of legislation are aimed at stamping out speeding, particularly those are are convicted of “excessive speeding.”
With many states increasing fines associated with speeding, they are also increasingly relying on automated camera technology to catch drivers in the act who continue to speed in the absence of law enforcement. Automated speed cameras have been documented to be a sufficient intervention at forcing drivers to slow down in locations where speeding has been identified to be a problem; however, more drivers need to actively refuse to speed out of their own moral conscious.
