{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"The Paul Truesdell Podcast","title":"Waldo Runs The Traffic in Florida","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1775,"description":"Rough NotesThere is a real problem with traffic in the state of Florida. We have millions of visitors every year, and our roads are crowded from one end of the state to the other. This time of year, we see the perfect storm of congestion. Snowbirds return for the winter, vacationers arrive for the holidays, and year-round residents try to go about their daily lives. Add to that a growing number of young adults riding scooters, both gas and electric, darting in and out of traffic with little concern for safety or courtesy. Their behavior is not only reckless, it is often downright dangerous.Even inside our 55-plus communities, where you would expect a certain degree of calm, we are now seeing aggressive and obnoxious driving behavior. People speed through gated streets, ignore stop signs, and tailgate golf carts as if they are on an interstate highway. The number of traffic accidents has climbed dramatically, and it shows no sign of slowing down.What most people do not realize is that in Florida, your county sheriff’s office does not usually handle traffic accidents. That responsibility belongs to the Florida Highway Patrol. In some counties there are simply not enough troopers to cover the volume of crashes that occur every day. When that happens, some sheriffs assign a small number of deputies to handle traffic-related investigations, but only as a backup. Within city limits, the local police departments take over. Larger cities often create traffic divisions to handle these cases. The more forward-thinking cities have gone one step further. They use trained community service officers—civilian employees who handle the paperwork, measurements, and diagrams—so that sworn officers can focus on law enforcement, where their training and authority truly matter.Let us move from crash response to traffic enforcement. Most county sheriffs in Florida do not handle crash investigations on a routine basis, and for a mix of budget and political reasons many also keep day to...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/115-XsjkdwCpJ99xv-8oZ76t6jr8ScWEC5MYSKzL0ig/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS82MTUx/OWRiNTc0NTk0Y2Nk/M2VjYTliMGVhN2Zm/YTZkZi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}