Abel Harding Departs Mayors Office

[buckethead]

HOLD THE PHONE!

If this was Rick Scott getting a DUI after a Gators game, how different would the tone of the comments be?

[Captain Zissou]

Rick Scott wouldn't be driving on 301.  He'd be in his private plane.


I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

A week after I got a new car in 2008 I was driving just north of Waldo where the speed limit drops for about 100 yards for an intersection.  I was towards the back of a 10 car pack that was traveling about 10 miles an hour over the speed limit.  Knowing of the decrease in speed, I dropped down to about 63, 8 over the reduced speed limit.  The other cars kept their speed and 2 actually sped up.  The cop came out and started to chase the faster cars.  He then spotted me in what he thought was a 'nice car' and cut me off and pulled me over.  He then proceeded to compliment my car, say he "wished he could afford a car like that", and then go on a diatribe about rich kids wasting their parents money.  Needless to say, I was furious.  For the record, my car was purchased for less than $18,000.  A decent car for sure, but nowhere near luxury. I paid for a good portion of the car through the 2 jobs I was working while in school. 

[Bridges]

HOLD THE PHONE!

If this was Rick Scott getting a DUI after a Gators game, how different would the tone of the comments be?

Yeah, no difference between the Governor of Florida and a staff member to the Mayor of Jacksonville.  No sir.  I bet only partisan hacks would critique the Governor for a DUI. 

[reednavy]

then again one would think you're crazy to think he'd be driving himself as the Governor of Florida in the first place, just sayin'.

Also, the mayor's spokeperson and Governor of Florida are truly on completely seperate levels.

[Bativac]

Rick Scott wouldn't be driving on 301.  He'd be in his private plane.


I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

A week after I got a new car in 2008 I was driving just north of Waldo where the speed limit drops for about 100 yards for an intersection.  I was towards the back of a 10 car pack that was traveling about 10 miles an hour over the speed limit.  Knowing of the decrease in speed, I dropped down to about 63, 8 over the reduced speed limit.  The other cars kept their speed and 2 actually sped up.  The cop came out and started to chase the faster cars.  He then spotted me in what he thought was a 'nice car' and cut me off and pulled me over.  He then proceeded to compliment my car, say he "wished he could afford a car like that", and then go on a diatribe about rich kids wasting their parents money.  Needless to say, I was furious.  For the record, my car was purchased for less than $18,000.  A decent car for sure, but nowhere near luxury. I paid for a good portion of the car through the 2 jobs I was working while in school.

Abel made a pretty stupid call. I don't drink so I've never been close to getting a DUI. My brother, on the other hand, no longer has a license thanks to similarly stupid calls. All it takes is one bad decision and one point (or hundredth of a point) over the legal limit.

But 301 is infamous for the Police Squad. Years ago I was with a friend in his new Mustang Convertible. He was trying to keep up with traffic when I mentioned that the rest of the traffic was good ol' boys in pickup trucks - not a couple college kids in a convertible sports car. We slowed way, way down. Passed at least a half dozen cop cars in that little stretch. So they're definitely out there.

Someone on the TU website mentions that Abel may have been the victim of a targeted conspiracy. That seems a little far-fetched.

[Jaxson]

I have always hated driving on 301. It is very creepy and it makes me paranoid.

301 is a cool road... minus the speed traps etc.  It is full of "old florida"... the way it was before the mouse and the "interstate system".

I agree that U.S. 301 has an 'Old Florida' charm that would appeal to the most die-hard of Tim Dorsey fans.  The best way to enjoy that road, IMHO, is as a passenger.  Let someone else stress over the speed traps!

[JeffreyS]

HOLD THE PHONE!

If this was Rick Scott getting a DUI after a Gators game, how different would the tone of the comments be?

Yes they would be harsher. Seriously though a local staffer no matter what party is not going to incur the same vitriol as a Governor no matter what party. 

If you are just trying to bust the people here on the terms that they deal differently towards others based on past events and personal opinions then I will plead guilty. 

For the record it is very bad to drink and drive no matter who you are.   

[tufsu1]

I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

sorry, but if he failed a sobriety test, he is fully at fault!

[ChriswUfGator]

I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

sorry, but if he failed a sobriety test, he is fully at fault!

Almost nobody passes the field sobriety exercises, tufsu. They're designed to generate probable cause, not demonstrate sobriety. Harding fucked up, he should have refused those.

[Captain Zissou]

I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

sorry, but if he failed a sobriety test, he is fully at fault!

Almost nobody passes the field sobriety exercises, tufsu. They're designed to generate probable cause, not demonstrate sobriety.

This is exactly what I meant.

Chris, maybe you can elaborate on this.  It seems to me the seatbelt crackdown and other things are solely to allow cops to potentially search your vehicle.  Same thing with life jackets on a boat.  Cops can pull you over and board for no other reason than to check your life jackets.  Once on board, whatever they find is fair game. Is this correct??

I'm not trying to cheat the law, but lately it seems like cops have been overstepping their bounds.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Field Sobriety tests are a joke.  Uneven pavement, dis-orientation from the flashing strobes, anxiety from the situation in general, etc....  Sure, they can be damning if you're stumbling all over the place and mush-mouthing your words, but if you're reasonably sober (take that for what it's worth) then they are completely inconclusive.

The real key is did he blow.  (No, I'm not talking about the cop)  If he refuses to blow, he's automatically hauled in to jail and his license is suspended until after his trial and most of these cases are reduced to a lesser charge and he avoids a DUI.  It's still about $1,500 and some community service / alcohol classes

If he blew and registered over the limit - he's pretty much screwed and has to pony up for a Real attorney.

[duvaldude08]

I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

sorry, but if he failed a sobriety test, he is fully at fault!

Almost nobody passes the field sobriety exercises, tufsu. They're designed to generate probable cause, not demonstrate sobriety. Harding fucked up, he should have refused those.

And I found out after my ordeal earlier this year, that you can refuse to do the field soberity excercise without any consequences. The whole thing is pointless. I could not do that stuff if I was sober. Bad thing about it I had on some huge boots and was trying to walk the line and turn around. It was impossiable because my boots were in the way. I wear a size 13 might I add. LOL

[Ocklawaha]

Since Vietnam, I can't walk a straight line on those rare occasions when I'm not on some new designer drug from the VA, and they still let me drive! I'LL REFUSE.

OCKLAWAHA

[johnnyman]

Field Sobriety tests are a joke.  Uneven pavement, dis-orientation from the flashing strobes, anxiety from the situation in general, etc....  Sure, they can be damning if you're stumbling all over the place and mush-mouthing your words, but if you're reasonably sober (take that for what it's worth) then they are completely inconclusive.

The real key is did he blow.  (No, I'm not talking about the cop)  If he refuses to blow, he's automatically hauled in to jail and his license is suspended until after his trial and most of these cases are reduced to a lesser charge and he avoids a DUI.  It's still about $1,500 and some community service / alcohol classes

If he blew and registered over the limit - he's pretty much screwed and has to pony up for a Real attorney.

True, he should not have taken a field test.  Any half ass attorney can get it reduced to Reck Driving pretty easily.   With that said,, i can pretty much smell the booze from this dude's mug shot.  Us Gators party pretty hard at games and he still looks pretty wrecked.  Just don't drink and drive,, period.

[ChriswUfGator]

I feel for Abel.  While what he did was a bad choice, I'm hesitant to believe he was wholly at fault.  I have been a victim of some pretty unfair stuff on 301. 

sorry, but if he failed a sobriety test, he is fully at fault!

Almost nobody passes the field sobriety exercises, tufsu. They're designed to generate probable cause, not demonstrate sobriety.

This is exactly what I meant.

Chris, maybe you can elaborate on this.  It seems to me the seatbelt crackdown and other things are solely to allow cops to potentially search your vehicle.  Same thing with life jackets on a boat.  Cops can pull you over and board for no other reason than to check your life jackets.  Once on board, whatever they find is fair game. Is this correct??

I'm not trying to cheat the law, but lately it seems like cops have been overstepping their bounds.

I totally agree with you that much of it is BS to justify stops that would otherwise lack PC. The marine patrol can't board unless you give them permission. Which I never do, and no reason you should either. They can raft up alongside and make you display to them each item on the FL safety checklist, writing you a ticket for each one you don't have. That's about all they can do though, unless you're really shitfaced. They don't get the benefit of claiming nystagmus with sunglasses and smell of alcohol with a 15 knot wind blowing. Let them onboard and they go hunting for beer cans or whatever else they can't see from their own boat, there's no reason at all to let them board.

Some of them are real asses too, I always wondered how somebody getting paid to ride around in a boat all day can still be such a dick. I am seriously amazed, I'd be the most relaxed guy on the planet. The last time I went through this it was kind of funny, the guy demanded to do a safety check and eventually I see him writing a ticket, so I ask what for, he says "Expired fired extinguisher." I replied "it's got a Halon system I don't even have to carry one." He goes "Yeah but you did, and it's expired." So I said "alright so I could toss this over right now and not get a ticket?" "no then I'll write you for littering." Jackass. All about $$$$.