{"id":338432,"date":"2026-07-13T14:31:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/338432\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:31:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:31:08","slug":"operation-southern-slowdown-targets-florida-super-speeder-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/338432\/","title":{"rendered":"Operation Southern Slowdown targets Florida ‘super speeder’ drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TAMPA, Fla. – State and local law enforcement agencies are officially easing off the gas and ramping up enforcement as they kick off “Operation Southern Slowdown.”<\/p>\n

Operation Southern Slowdown <\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

The annual week-long traffic safety initiative targets major interstates and highways across five Southern states: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. Running from July 13 to 19, the coordinated campaign aims to flood high-risk corridors with officers to slash reckless crashes, educate the public and ultimately save lives.<\/p>\n

The urgent need for the crackdown was put on stark display over the weekend. On Saturday morning, Jeffrey Adam Anglin was arrested after allegedly tearing down the I-4 emergency shoulder in an SUV, speeding over 100 mph in a 70-mph zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Courtesy: Florida Highway Patrol <\/p>\n

The high-speed pursuit ended in a violent crash that left a passenger with serious injuries. Anglin now faces felony charges, including reckless driving involving serious bodily injury and fleeing an officer resulting in serious injury or death.<\/p>\n

Officials say that this is an example of a chronic issue of dangerous speeding seen daily across the country.<\/p>\n

Speeding crash risk <\/p>\n

By the numbers:<\/p>\n

The math behind high-speed driving is unapologetically brutal. According to law enforcement statistics, drivers who choose to speed are three times more likely to be involved in a deadly or serious crash.<\/p>\n

The danger multiplies exponentially for pedestrians and bystanders:<\/p>\n

A pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 20 mph has a 95% chance of survival.If the vehicle’s speed is doubled to 40 mph, the pedestrian’s chance of survival plummets to just 15%. <\/p>\n

“When we’re out there in the community, we always see a reduction in crashes, a reduction in fatalities, and we know it works from past experiences,” Major Rick Benton of the Florida Highway Patrol said. “This has been very successful over the past several years.”<\/p>\n

Zero tolerance for ‘super speeders’ <\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

Drivers are being given fair warning: Expect a heavily increased police presence all week long. Law enforcement agencies across all five participating states are coordinating to enforce traffic laws strictly.<\/p>\n

Under the law, motorists caught driving at “super speeder” levels, clocked at over 100 mph, can be arrested on the spot.<\/p>\n

State and local officials will officially launch the campaign with a press conference at 10 a.m. Monday morning at the FHP office in Tampa.<\/p>\n

Safe driving tips <\/p>\n

What you can do:<\/p>\n

With police out in full force, drivers are urged to adjust their daily habits to avoid a hefty fine or a jail cell. Officials recommend the following precautions:<\/p>\n

Leave early: Give yourself extra travel time so you aren’t tempted to rush.Obey the signs: Do not exceed the posted speed limit; the time saved is never worth the risk.Keep your distance: Maintain a safe following distance, especially if you encounter aggressive or erratic drivers.Stay alert: Be highly aware of your surroundings and expect heavier law enforcement presence. \"\" <\/p>\n

The bottom line from FHP is clear: Leave for your destination early, or you could be destined for a seat behind bars.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information for this story was gathered from the Florida Highway Patrol as well as previous reporting done by FOX 13 News.<\/p>\n

Tampa<\/a>Crime and Public Safety<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – State and local law enforcement agencies are officially easing off the gas and ramping up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[630,47,629,115,135,137,136,628],"class_list":["post-338432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-fl","tag-hillsborough","tag-news","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}