Catching super speeders subject of in-depth story by our journalist – Naples Daily News

This is another installment of our ongoing series called “What We Do” where we talk to our journalists about the topics they cover and the content they create. Today, we catch up with breaking news reporter Tomas Rodriguez and ask him about his recent story about super speeders in SW Florida.
Question: Can you talk about your lead for the story and how you came up with that? I thought you nailed it.
It is not the type of lede I’m used to writing, and I wanted to think outside the box. My initial instinct, before my editor Stacy Henson suggested looking at local arrests, was to paraphrase one of the powerful quotes in the story. But when I looked at the different arrest reports, I found their excuses compelling for the story as copy that would keep the reader engaged with the topic.
One of your main sources for the story, Lt. Greg Bueno of the Florida Highway Patrol, gave you great quotes like this one: “Our roadways are not race tracks.” How do quotes like Bueno’s help a story like this one?
Quotes like this one send a powerful message and help move the story along. Lt. Greg Bueno gave me a lot of great quotes and I thought this one was best to pin toward the top of the story because it set the tone for the main focus of the story — motorists caught driving 100-plus mph.
Any challenges for getting the date you got for the different police agencies and tickets handed out for the new law? How did you go about that? What’s the process?
It required seeking the information from each law enforcement agency individually. Some agencies have a slower turnaround for these types of requests, so for the agencies that respond quicker it required checking in each time after numbers from another agency came though. The final decision was to report the numbers as of Dec. 31 — in the first six months.
The man “rushing to a baby shower” who was ticketed for super speeding – tell us how you were able to single out that incident.
We had come across his case looking at jail records and his reasoning for speeding caught our eye. But it was not just the excuse. It was also the fact that he was driving 100-plus mph with a baby in the car. It was also a great example to include up high in the lede because if I were to read someone was speeding over 100 mph with a baby, I will definitely want to know the outcome of his court case.
What surprised you most while reporting this story?
The fact that it is so widespread and not associated primarily with a specific age group was another layer to the story. Authorities said it seems to be more prevalent in younger men, but the examples highlighted in the story are across the board.
What follow-up stories do you think still need to be told about speeding in the region?
I think the next few stories have to focus on two layers. On the one hand, I hope to talk with families of crash victims involved in high-speed crashes before state law began to reflect super speeders. And on the other hand, I believe we need to keep an eye out on the numbers; if arrests are incremental; or if the new law is deterring drivers from exceeding 100 mph.
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