Tell On Teens Who Get Tickets, But Don’t Tell The Boss

January 10, 2012

Lawmakers want state officials to be able to send you a note to let you know if your kids get a speeding ticket. But if you get a caught going too fast, they don’t really want the state telling your boss.

Of course you – and your boss – can find out anytime you want if someone’s had a ticket: driving records are public under state law. Just go to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and give them your kid’s name – or an employee’s name – and pay the fee, and you can find out whether they have a lead foot or drive while drunk.

Almost any company that has employees who drive for work, from school bus drivers to package deliverers, checks on driver records.

But at issue on Monday was a bill that would turn the process around in some cases, letting parents sign up to be notified electronically anytime their child violates a traffic law. The parent wouldn’t have to periodically check their child’s record, the DHSMV would simply let them know any time their kids have seen blue lights in the rearview.

The bill (SB 854) enjoyed full support of the Senate Transportation Committee on Monday, sending the measure to the Budget Committee.

But not before the Transportation Committee firmly rejected a proposed amendment that would have also allowed employers to sign up with DHSMV to get notices when their workers – whether they drive for their job or not – get some sort of traffic ticket.

That would mean, for example, that instead of a school board simply checking up on bus drivers from time to time, it would now be automatically notified if a teacher had gotten a ticket, or a janitor, for example. Theoretically, the Senate president could also sign up to be notified if senators get pulled over and ticketed, noted Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Wellington.

To have employers routinely notified of workers’ driving slip-ups, “for me, that goes a little bit too far,” Benacquisto said.

An official with the highway safety agency, which actually recommended the change, reminded legislators that employers can check up on their employees now. “It’s public record, they can do that today,” noted Steven Fielder, the agency’s legislative affairs director.

But having the agency proactively rat out employees to their bosses is different than having the agency go through the effort to find out, said several members of the committee.

“That’s a horse of a different color,” said Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa. “There’s something that’s just not right about it,” added Sen. Larcenia Bullard, D-Miami.

No vote was even needed on the amendment.

“Is there anybody here besides (amendment and bill sponsor Sen. Greg) Evers who supports this?” asked the committee’s chairman, Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, who had earlier called the provision a “Big Brother amendment.”

No one spoke up and Evers, R-Baker, withdrew the amendment before the panel approved the original bill.

By The News Service of Florida

Comments

One Response to “Tell On Teens Who Get Tickets, But Don’t Tell The Boss”

  1. baebae on January 11th, 2012 4:16 am

    you ever notice that MANS LAW always wants to make us sinless and perfect…but I know better…we cant be…I dont like laws like this

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News