At least 70 ‘super speeders’ booked into Orange County Jail after new Florida law takes effect

At least 70 drivers have been booked into the Orange County Jail in recent months for driving 50 miles per hour or more over the posted speed limit, a county spokesperson shared Thursday. That’s in line with a new Florida law, effective July 1, 2025, that creates a criminal offense for “dangerous excessive speeding.”

“Excessive speeding is a formula for failure because it drastically increases the potential for tragic consequences,” Orange County corrections chief Louis A. Quinones Jr. shared in a statement.

Under the new law (HB 351), backed by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, dangerous excessive speeding is now a criminal offense, punishable by up to 30 days in jail, a fine of $500, or both for a first offense. Jail time and fines go up if you’ve been convicted a second or third time.

The law defines “dangerous excessive speeding” as exceeding the posted speed limit by 50 mph or more, or driving at least 100 mph or more “in a manner that threatens the safety of other persons or property or interferes with the operation of any vehicle,” according to Florida statutes. It also requires that any driver who speeds more than 50 mph above the speed limit attend a mandatory court hearing. The maximum speed limit on Florida highways is 70 mph.

According to Orange County, drivers caught under this new super speeder law include a woman driving 113 mph in a hurry to pick up her dog and a motorcyclist driving 101 mph — just fast enough to qualify for the criminal offense — because he was late to work. The law has also implicated a man driving 111 mph while under the influence of alcohol and a man driving 104 mph with a 10-month-old baby in the vehicle.

“When you’re going over 100 miles an hour, when you go 50 miles an hour above a posted speed limit, when you crash — people are going to die,” Orange County Sheriff John Mina (who traveled up to Tallahassee to sit in on at least one hearing for the law) told Fox News 35 earlier this month. “You’re not going to survive that crash, and the people you hit are not going to survive,” he added.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), speeding was a “contributing factor” in 29 percent of all U.S. traffic fatalities, nearly 12,000 deaths, in 2023. Drivers involved in such crashes are more likely to be those driving drunk or driving without a valid driver’s license, federal data indicates.

Orange County sheriff John Mina sits in on a legislative committee hearing for a proposed law criminalizing excessive speeding. Credit: The Florida Channel

What was the penalty before?

Prior to the law’s adoption by Florida lawmakers earlier this year, driving 50 mph or more above the posted speed limit was considered a “noncriminal traffic infraction,” according to a bill analysis, punishable by a moving violation, subject to a $250 fine if you were caught driving 30 mph more above the limit.

Today, driving anywhere from 1 to 5 mph above the speed limit is still a noncriminal infraction, and can earn you a warning from law enforcement. Driving 6 to 9 mph above the limit, meanwhile, can earn you a $25 fine, and the fine only goes up with the speed from there.

According to Florida Politics, a previous version of HB 351 would have imposed a 90-day jail sentence on first offenders and a six-month sentence for repeat offenders. That version, however, was amended to the current 30-day sentence.

Who wanted to send super speeders to jail?

The law was sponsored by former Democratic, now independent Sen. Jason Pizzo in the Senate and in the House by Orlando Republican Sen. Susan Placensia and Tampa Republican Sen. Danny Alvarez, who has worked as an attorney for a local police union.

It was unanimously approved by the Republican-dominated Florida Senate in April, and was less definitively approved by the Florida House in a vote of 75 to 38, with most of the GOP in favor and most (if not all) Democrats opposed.

Florida Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, argued the proposed penalties were too harsh and that the new offense would divert resources away from more serious criminal activity.

“I firmly believe education, progressive income-based fines, community service or license suspensions are more constructive responses,” Hart argued on the House floor. “These measures correct behavior without causing long-term damage to a person’s life, like a criminal record and loss of employment over what might be a non-malicious mistake.”

Democrat Mike Gottlieb, a criminal defense attorney himself, argued the law was “overly broad,” would be costly to taxpayers, and would overburden the court system.

“Some of these people are not going to be able to afford a lawyer for this, where they’re looking at jail time for the simple action of speeding,” he said, speaking to a largely unsympathetic room of House colleagues. “It’s constitutionally overbroad. It is incredibly invasive. It’s going to clog our court systems in a way that none of us can imagine.”

State records show the law was backed by AARP, the Florida Smart Justice Alliance, the Florida Police Benevolent Association (a labor union that represents police officers), and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

“Excessive speed is not something that is just an Orange County problem. It’s a statewide issue,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant Chip Denmark, lobbying in favor of the law during a House Criminal Justice subcommittee hearing in early April. “Hopefully it will help law enforcement curb some of the dangerous behavior.”

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