Posted by  Darwin Culbertson, Clearwater on 05/19  at  07:50 AM

IT IS TIME TO LOOK AT THE FACTS. Yes, I back the coral colored license plates in Florida.  It is time that the people in this state understand the feels of DUI driving IT IS AGAINST THE LAW… If your driver’s privileges are restricted or taken away OK, deal with it.

Law enforcement officers are trying to keep the roads safe for all drivers. However, DUI’s just throw a wrench into all the hard work they do.  It is very simply DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE.

Posted by  John Smith, Jacksonville, Fl on 05/18  at  12:29 AM

I am 46yo and have not drank in 19 years. For a three year period in my twenties I received mult. DUIs. I lost my drivers license for LIFE. I was able to get a work permit under strict supervision which I am grateful for. I live a respectable life after going back to college and receiving two degrees. I can not drive for pleasure, and I can not even leave the state because other states will not even give me a work permit. Now some in the state want me to be brand with a pink tag for the rest of my life. Give a recovering alcoholic a break.

Posted by  David Cooper, Tampa on 03/28  at  11:06 AM

I was in favor of the DUI license plates until I read all the comments! Many different colored plates would eventually go unnoticed! Putting some teeth in the existing laws got my attention! I suggest the following: 1. Impound cars for 30 days for 1st offenders. 2. Impound cars for 90 days for 2nd offenders! 3. For 3rd offenders, confiscate their car and sell it in the Auto Trader!

Posted by  Patty Flanagan, Tampa Florida 33611 on 03/27  at  11:06 AM

The people who are saying it would be degrading I guess they have not had anyone in their family killed by a Someone Driving Drunk.  Thank God I have not either. But there are people who have had more than one DUI and still driving Drunk. If this makes them think twice then it is a good thing. And what about their attoney’s who gets them off all the time just with a fine. How would they feel if one of their family members was killed by a drunk driver? PINK NO SCARLET RED YES WOULD STAND OUT MORE…..

Patty Flanagan

Posted by  Brian Chandler, Dunedin on 03/09  at  09:17 PM

Why not license plates for parking tickets, or late cable bills, or how about what job they have.  STATE mandated license plates purposely given to humiliate people is sickening.  Do the crime, do the time, not branded like cattle.  People are people and make mistakes, errors in judgement, or are even habitual but to be branded for a time is cruel and unusual.  I am not a DUI infractor or know anyone so I’m not on that side but common decency had eroded from our society.  We are all in a reality TV show called life but we don’t need to sensationalize it for the few that mess it up.

Posted by  KATHLEEN ANELLO, TAMPA on 03/09  at  11:35 AM

WONDERFUL IDEA AND SHOULD NOT BE PINK AS PINK IS BREAST CANCER - CORAL COLOR WOULD BE GREAT AS I THINK THESE DRIVERS NEED TO BE PUT OUT THERE & NOTICED!

Posted by  Robert Cerajewski, Largo,FL on 03/09  at  07:30 AM

Good Idea!
People drive drunk because they don’t think of the consequences also they don’t think anyone will notice!
A license plate will not only make them think but put everyone else on alert that they are out and about.
If sober,no problem,if otherwise someone with a cell phone can call the police and save a life.
Alcohol and drugs impair judgement and create “careless” behavior.
Alcohol is societies “acceptable narcotic”
Drunk Driving is criminal behavior and should be treated as such.

Posted by  Art Vandolay, Tampa on 03/09  at  01:21 AM

Regarding the proposal to have DUI offenders drive with a license plate that indicates the driver has a previous DUI is unfair and ridiculous.  MADD will tell you it’s a deterrent. Well if killing someone, killing yourself, jail, community service, loss of license, picture on sherriff’s site, fines and a lot of administrative hoops to jump are not enough to stop DUI arrests, a pink plate won’t deter anyone either. What about habitual speeders, reckless drivers, red light runners etc.?

Everyone knows the consequences. A pink tag won’t deter.

If driving a car is a ‘Privilege’ and not a ‘Right’, then shouldn’t every car be equipped with the breathalizer interlock to start the car? That’s a deterrent, not a pink plate.

Posted by  Katie Daniel, Tampa on 03/08  at  05:59 PM

I don’t think a DUI plate would be good legislation.  People make mistakes—just because someone gets a DUI doesn’t mean that he or she is a bad person or that it should be broadcast for everyone to see.  Yes, driving under the influence is dangerous and selfish in that most people do not realize that they are putting everyone in danger when they engage in such acts.  Nevertheless, I think a DUI plate would serve more as a punishment than a deterrant, and preventing the problem would be more desireable than reacting to it.

Posted by  craig mcnees, tampa on 03/08  at  05:33 PM

sgt strickland, if you find my car that was stolen, please help me get it back. i had no comprehesive insurance, so someone’s joy ride or chop shop is on my nickel. say, should i have kept making the insurance payments, and license tags for the thief as well? i’m sure that all that the thieves, illegals, and driver’s with no license have to do that they are just to busy to be bothered to get that stuff too. hooray for strickland!

Posted by  craig mcnees, tampa on 03/08  at  05:21 PM

my brother is a habitual dwi/ no license offender. he is in jail at the moment. he’s been there before, & nothing else worked, ie ankle bracelet, home imprisonment, fines, etc. his girl friend is driving right now, also no license. the existing laws are a joke, let’s put some teeth into the laws and keep these off our streets. driving is a priviledge, not a right.

Posted by  Howard Kenneth Hartley, Sarasota, Florida 34238 on 03/08  at  01:33 PM

Two subjects: (1) branding DUI drivers with a special colored license plate takes a page from Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” as well as various scars, cuts, burns and mutilations by more primitive societies. AWFUL!

(2)Your investigation of suburban pot farms is much too detailed and thorough. Any intelligent person could write a pro forma business plan for this illegal activity, using only the information you published. So why dynamite Jon Gruden’s privacy, and the possible safety of his family? What useful purpose is served? To say merely, “This is already a matter of public record” begs the issue of humanity. Editors are supposed to be smarter than their reporters. Evidently yours are not.

Posted by  ted church, memphis, tn on 03/08  at  11:19 AM

well, i dont think it is a matter of civil liberties, since court records are generally open to the public, so…...along with dui’s how about something on a plate for those also found guilty of seriously reckless driving, and other activities that are as equally hazardous as driving while under the influence.  and how about one specifically for the idiots who drive with a cell phone in one ear and one had on the wheel?.  i know they are NOT giving full attention to the roaod and my safety!  driving is a privilege, not a right!!

Posted by  Sonny Lefstead, Wesley Chapel, Florida on 03/08  at  10:31 AM

Sexual Predators should also be included too!