A driver flew across the Mathews Bridge at around 120 miles per hour Thursday, nearly triple the span's posted 45 mph limit, and was found with a blunt in hand when a sergeant caught up to the vehicle. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says the driver was ultimately charged with driving under the influence following the stop.
According to the Jax Sheriff's Office, Sergeant James White of the agency's Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit was monitoring traffic on the Mathews Bridge when the driver sped past him at roughly 120 mph. JSO's post described the driver as travelling at nearly triple the speed limit and said the driver was reportedly high behind the wheel, with a blunt in their mouth at the time of the stop. The agency has not published additional details about how the stop was initiated or what happened once White caught up to the vehicle.
A Bridge Built for 45, Not 120
The Mathews Bridge is a 7,376-foot steel cantilever span built in 1953 that carries State Road 115 across the St. Johns River, connecting downtown Jacksonville with the Arlington neighborhood, according to Wikipedia and FDOT records. Its posted speed limit is 45 mph, meaning the driver JSO stopped was allegedly moving at nearly three times that limit on a bridge that has already seen serious wrecks this year. In February, a deadly collision on the bridge forced the Florida Highway Patrol to close all eastbound lanes of the Arlington Expressway, an incident Hoodline covered in its report on the deadly Mathews Bridge wreck that brought traffic to a standstill.
Speeds anywhere near 120 mph now carry criminal exposure in Florida that didn't exist before last year. Effective July 1, 2025, state law under Florida Statute § 316.1922 made driving 50 mph or more over the posted limit, or traveling 100 mph or faster in a dangerous manner, a criminal misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine for a first offense, according to the Brancato Law Firm. Before that change, extreme speeding alone was generally treated as a civil infraction unless reckless intent could be established.
Mandatory Fines Stack on Top of Criminal Charges
Separate from the criminal misdemeanor, Florida drivers cited for going 50 mph or more over the limit face mandatory civil fines that start at $1,000 for a first violation, climb to $2,500 plus a one-year license suspension for a second, and reach $5,000 for a third, per Florida Statute § 318.14(13) as outlined by the state's Online Sunshine legislative records. Those fines require a court appearance rather than a simple online payment.
The DUI charge against the Mathews Bridge driver stems from Florida's impaired-driving statute, which treats marijuana impairment the same as alcohol impairment. Under Florida Statute § 316.193, a first DUI conviction can bring up to six months in jail, fines between $500 and $1,000, 50 hours of community service, and a mandatory six- to 12-month license revocation, according to Musca Law. Because there's no roadside breath test for marijuana, officers establish drug impairment by evaluating whether a driver's normal physical and mental faculties appear compromised. As with any pending case, the charge against this driver remains an allegation until it is resolved in court.
Part of a Bigger Enforcement Push
The stop is the second extreme-speed arrest JSO has publicized in Duval County within the same week. On August 5, deputies arrested another driver clocked at 117 mph on I-295 and charged that person under the same super-speeder law along with felony child neglect, because a minor was in the vehicle, as Hoodline reported in its story on the driver who hit 117 mph with a child inside.
JSO's Specialized Traffic Enforcement Unit regularly runs multi-agency saturation operations, sometimes called Wolfpack details, targeting aggressive driving, high speeds and impaired motorists across high-crash corridors in Duval County. The unit has faced its own scrutiny this year; Sheriff T.K. Waters said in July that an internal review found no additional overtime issues after four unit officers were arrested earlier in the year for overtime abuse, a development first reported by News4JAX.
The enforcement push comes as the city works to reverse a persistent traffic death toll. Jacksonville launched its Vision Zero Action Plan last July, aiming to eliminate traffic deaths and cut serious injuries in half by 2035, after city records showed nearly 200,000 crashes killed 921 people and injured 2,771 between 2018 and 2023, per Jacksonville Today. JSO's own post on the Mathews Bridge stop noted that traffic crashes have caused 110 deaths on local roads, part of the same message urging drivers to travel safely and soberly.
How to Report Dangerous Driving
JSO says its X account, run under the handle JSOPIO, is the official account for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office but is not monitored 24/7, so it should not be used to report crimes in progress. For emergencies, the agency directs residents to call or text 911; for non-emergency matters, JSO lists a public contact line at 904-630-0500.
