The Police State part is from Ctrl FL aka Disney/tourism town all the way down to Miami where the rich must be protected.
I lived in Ctrl FL for 25 years. Two weeks before we left the state, I got pulled over for not having a seat belt on. In most states, they only give you a seat belt ticket if they pull you over something else. The ticket was $116.00
Out here in MO, it’s $10.00 and half the people drive around without a seat belt on and they don’t pursue you.
Always heard FL’s highest source of revenue is Tourism and their second highest is the criminal justice system.
“In most states, they only give you a seat belt ticket if they pull you over something else. The ticket was $116.00”
According to what I read, the state made a deal with the federal government. The state got x amount of dollars but as one of the conditions they had to demonstrate they were enforcing the seatbelt law. The only way the feds were satisfied with were tickets. And, those tickets had to be sufficiently punitive to ensure the prols did what was good for them.
What you see now is an increasing number of cars that have windows tinted so no one can see in. This shields driver’s from future laws like those in California against eating and drinking while driving and smoking in your “workplace.” (If you drive for a living, that is your workplace.)
The downside of this is, you have no idea whether the driver of the other car is looking at you or not. So, you hesitate and he honks or flashes his lights at you.
Incidentally, one of my Mustang club members was pulled over by a young, female blond trooper for not wearing his seatbelt. He was driving a 1964 Mustang. He pointed out he was wearing an aftermarket lab belt but that the car was not designed for a shoulder belt. She was uncertain and said she’d be back. Before she could leave, he showed her a copy of the law and he’d highlighted where cars of a certain age were exempt. It got him out of the ticket. This isn’t the first time were the law enforcement officer didn’t know the law. I got berated for not telling a trooper I had a gun. He went back to his car and called it in. About 15 minutes later he came back, returned my gun and apologized. My companion said, “You didn’t get a ticket because he made such an ass of himself about the gun and he was wrong.”