SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Lights flash. Handcuffs click. A driver is placed under arrest \u2014 not for a fender-bender or a blown red light, but for going dangerously, excessively fast.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a scene that has played out hundreds of times across Florida in the past year. On July 1, 2025, the state\u2019s \u201csuper speeder\u201d law took effect<\/a>, making it a criminal offense to drive 50 miles per hour or more over the speed limit or exceed 100 mph. <\/p>\n Nearly 1,000 arrests statewide<\/p>\n Data shared with News 6 from the Florida Highway Patrol shows troopers made 967 arrests for dangerous excessive speeding statewide from July 1, 2025, through June 15, 2026. The total number of \u201csuper speeders\u201d stopped in Florida in the last year is likely much higher when you factor in arrests made by county sheriffs, municipal police, and other agencies.<\/p>\n Troopers made 390 arrests under statute 316.1922(1)(a) and 583 under 316.1922(1)(b).<\/p>\n Arrests remained steady throughout the year \u2014 514 in 2025 and 453 through mid-June 2026.<\/p>\n A 127 mph stop on SR 417<\/p>\n A week and a half before the law\u2019s one-year anniversary, a Seminole County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputy was running stationary speed enforcement on State Road 417 near Lake Jessup in Oviedo when a dark SUV came flying through \u2014 northbound, in a 70 mph zone.<\/p>\n The deputy initially clocked the vehicle at 110 mph using a forward-facing radar antenna, according to an arrest report obtained by News 6. As the SUV approached, its speed increased, and the report noted the confirmed final speed of 127 mph using a rear-facing antenna. <\/p>\n Body camera video captured what followed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat in the world are you doing?\u201d the deputy can be heard asking the driver as he approached the vehicle.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to pee so bad. Like, so bad,\u201d the driver replied.<\/p>\n The deputy ordered the driver out of the car.<\/p>\n \u201cTurn around. Hands behind your back.\u201d<\/p>\n As handcuffs clicked into place, the driver\u2019s protests continued \u2014 but the deputy didn\u2019t waver.<\/p>\n \u201cYou were gonna kill somebody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to pee,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not care. There is absolutely no reason for that speed. 127 miles an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike, I\u2019m literally \u2014 I know, I understand. I literally, like, I\u2019m about to pee my pants,” she said. <\/p>\n The arrest report reveals the driver had two problems beyond an urgent bathroom break. A license plate check revealed the driver\u2019s Florida license had been suspended just four days earlier \u2014 on June 15, 2026 \u2014 for failing to pay multiple traffic citations. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to go to jail,\u201d the driver said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, there\u2019s no way about that,\u201d the deputy replied.<\/p>\n Minutes later, the driver tried one more time.<\/p>\n \u201cI just have to go pee really bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you can go pee at the jail,\u201d the deputy said. \u201cAnd your car is being towed.\u201d<\/p>\n The driver was arrested on two charges: dangerous excessive speeding under 316.1922(1)(a) and driving with a license suspended for failing to pay multiple traffic citations \u2014 a second or subsequent offense. <\/p>\n Our News 6 team has covered cases across central Florida where drivers have given different excuses after they were caught going too fast. A 25-year-old Longwood man clocked driving a Honda Civic at 116 mph on the highway in Lake Mary told the trooper who stopped him he thought he was racing him<\/a>. After a woman in Orlando was pulled over for speeding and she was asked why she was going so fast, she said, \u201cI\u2019m going to pick up my dog<\/a>,\u201d according to an arrest report. Another man in Seminole County claimed he was swerving to avoid an animal<\/a> in the road.<\/p>\n Seminole County cases by the numbers<\/p>\n That stop was one of many in Seminole County within the last year. An review of cases done by the State Attorney\u2019s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit, which covers both Seminole and Brevard counties, revealed they\u2019ve handled a combined 415 cases \u2014 177 in Seminole, 238 in Brevard.<\/p>\n Of those, 256 cases have been closed and 156 remain open. <\/p>\n Most drivers aren\u2019t fighting the charges<\/p>\n News 6 learned from the State Attorney\u2019s Office analysis that the overwhelming majority of defendants chose not to fight the charges in court. Of the 256 closed cases, 223 defendants pleaded with their cases resolved \u201cas charged\u201d for dangerous excessive speeding. Not a single defendant went to trial.<\/p>\n 64 of those defendants were adjudicated guilty. Another 159 had adjudication withheld by judges \u2014 meaning a formal guilty conviction was not entered \u2014 typically in exchange for paying fines and completing a state-mandated driving course. 28 others pleaded to lesser charges but still faced fines and the course. Only 5 cases were dropped by prosecutors for insufficient evidence.<\/p>\n Seminole County defense attorney Kevin Pitts has represented some of the drivers caught under the new law.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just dramatically different from what we\u2019ve typically had happen when you get pulled over for speeding,\u201d Pitts said.<\/p>\n The cost of getting caught<\/p>\n The financial consequences start the moment the handcuffs go on. Defendants pay to bond out of jail, hire an attorney and have their car towed \u2014 before they ever set foot in a courtroom.<\/p>\n \u201cMost of the time we\u2019re seeing fines. You know, obviously record stuff like that can have an impact. Jail definitely is a possibility,\u201d Pitts said.<\/p>\n A review of about 30 cases by the State Attorney\u2019s Office found that defendants consistently received the maximum fine of $500 for first-time offenders, plus more than $300 in court costs. <\/p>\n