Latest news with #LillyGlaubachAct
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida Lawmakers Push for Front License Plates Over Unidentified Hit-And-Runs
Florida has introduced a new bill that would make it the 30th US state, along with the District of Columbia, to require a front license plate along with a rear plate. SB (Senate Bill) 92, backed by the Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee, aims to lower Florida's cases of unidentified cars from hit-and-runs. Out-of-state vehicles would be allowed to follow requirements for their home state. Florida Senator Joe Gruters highlighted how only 12.5% of Florida hit-and-run cases in 2023 resulted in charges, noting in a Fox interview: 'As people are speeding away from these scenes, there's a lot of cameras out there, and those cameras can't always see the back of the plate. Sometimes, there are repeat offenders who know exactly how to get away from an accident without having their plates seen.' Another section of the bill would require Florida drivers to submit crash reports to auto body shops for estimated repairs worth $2,500 or more. This report must include a driver's personal information, vehicle details, and a damage description. If drivers don't submit a crash report, the auto body shop would be required to send their repair estimate to a Department of Law Enforcement database. Body shops that fail to forward the estimate could lose their registration. If passed, the bill would enact the Lilly Glaubach Act, named after a 13-year-old Tampa girl who was killed in a hit-and-run while riding her bike home from school. The front-and-back license plate requirement was added last week as an amendment to the bill. Gruters noted that Florida drivers would pay a single registration fee, and the state would provide two plates, negating the need for another registration fee. Polk County, Florida, Sheriff Grady Judd is in favor of the bill's body shop legislation but disagrees with the license plate requirement, labeling it as a burden for drivers to get another license plate and for police to enforce the law. 'We have a lot of technology that we use to solve hit-and-runs, and if added front license plates were the end all, then I would be for it, but it's simply not,' Grady said in an interview with Fox. Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee members voted unanimously in favor of the bill, which has to pass through one more committee before a full Senate vote. Pending approval, SB 92 will take effect July 1—but this isn't the only Florida road law that could begin in July. A Florida legislature bill has proposed increasing the state's maximum speed limit from 70 mph to 75 mph. Palm Beach Gardens driver Hunter Hopwood said that a speed limit change is worth looking into for speeding up traffic flow but clarified that the law's effectiveness could be good or bad depending on the location and time of day, according to CBS. While cost and safety concerns over a new front license plate requirement are valid, many drivers object to the practice since they feel it negatively alters their vehicle's look. This perspective can be especially true for some car types, like Alfa Romeos and their Scudetto grille, which weren't manufactured with front license plate placement in mind. For many years, Alfa Romeo had an off-center position for the front license plate, but the automaker decided to ditch this design in favor of centrally-mounted plates last year. It'll be interesting to see how manufacturers and drivers against the mounting of a front license plate will react if this bill gets passed.
Miami Herald
26-03-2025
- Miami Herald
Florida Lawmakers Push for Front License Plates Over Unidentified Hit-And-Runs
Florida has introduced a new bill that would make it the 30th US state, along with the District of Columbia, to require a front license plate along with a rear plate. SB (Senate Bill) 92, backed by the Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee, aims to lower Florida's cases of unidentified cars from hit-and-runs. Out-of-state vehicles would be allowed to follow requirements for their home state. Florida Senator Joe Gruters highlighted how only 12.5% of Florida hit-and-run cases in 2023 resulted in charges, noting in a Fox interview: "As people are speeding away from these scenes, there's a lot of cameras out there, and those cameras can't always see the back of the plate. Sometimes, there are repeat offenders who know exactly how to get away from an accident without having their plates seen." Another section of the bill would require Florida drivers to submit crash reports to auto body shops for estimated repairs worth $2,500 or more. This report must include a driver's personal information, vehicle details, and a damage description. If drivers don't submit a crash report, the auto body shop would be required to send their repair estimate to a Department of Law Enforcement database. Body shops that fail to forward the estimate could lose their registration. If passed, the bill would enact the Lilly Glaubach Act, named after a 13-year-old Tampa girl who was killed in a hit-and-run while riding her bike home from school. The front-and-back license plate requirement was added last week as an amendment to the bill. Gruters noted that Florida drivers would pay a single registration fee, and the state would provide two plates, negating the need for another registration fee. Polk County, Florida, Sheriff Grady Judd is in favor of the bill's body shop legislation but disagrees with the license plate requirement, labeling it as a burden for drivers to get another license plate and for police to enforce the law. "We have a lot of technology that we use to solve hit-and-runs, and if added front license plates were the end all, then I would be for it, but it's simply not," Grady said in an interview with Fox. Agriculture, Environment, and General Government Appropriations Committee members voted unanimously in favor of the bill, which has to pass through one more committee before a full Senate vote. Pending approval, SB 92 will take effect July 1-but this isn't the only Florida road law that could begin in July. A Florida legislature bill has proposed increasing the state's maximum speed limit from 70 mph to 75 mph. Palm Beach Gardens driver Hunter Hopwood said that a speed limit change is worth looking into for speeding up traffic flow but clarified that the law's effectiveness could be good or bad depending on the location and time of day, according to CBS. While cost and safety concerns over a new front license plate requirement are valid, many drivers object to the practice since they feel it negatively alters their vehicle's look. This perspective can be especially true for some car types, like Alfa Romeos and their Scudetto grille, which weren't manufactured with front license plate placement in mind. For many years, Alfa Romeo had an off-center position for the front license plate, but the automaker decided to ditch this design in favor of centrally-mounted plates last year. It'll be interesting to see how manufacturers and drivers against the mounting of a front license plate will react if this bill gets passed. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
License plates on front of Florida cars? What to know about SB 92
Floridians will need to buy and install license plates on the front of their vehicles as well as the rear if a proposal passes in the Florida Legislature. The bill, SB 92, also called the Lilly Glaubach Act after a 13-year-old Sarasota County girl killed in a hit-and-run, seeks to help law enforcement with hit-and-run investigations by requiring auto repair shops to collect and submit crash reports before repairing cars. An amendment to the bill proposed Monday by the bill's sponsor, Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, would make Florida the 30th state to require two license plates per vehicle, front and back. 'As people are speeding away from these scenes, there's a lot of cameras out there. And they can't always see the back of a (car),' Gruters said, according to The News Service of Florida. The suggestion came from Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, who said two plates could provide more accountability. 'The witnesses will many times see the front of the car, but not see the rear of the car,' Grall said. 'And sometimes there are repeat offenders who know exactly how to get away from an accident without having their plates seen.' The amendment, filed Monday, simply updates vehicle licensing requirements in Florida statutes to add "on the rear and the front of the vehicle." That has yet to be addressed. Gruters said he hopes to have costs before the bill goes to the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee and wants to set 'the least amount of cost to motorists and the state.' Florida license plates currently run from $27.60 to $45.60 for cars and trucks and $24.10 for motorcycles, with various prices for motor homes, trailers, school buses and other vehicles. Personalized license plates have an additional $15 annual fee, specialty plates cost an additional $15-25. Many modern cars are not designed with a well for a front plate in mind, despite the number of states that require them. On higher-end cars, a bracket can be screwed into a hidden socket on the front used for towing. Otherwise, drivers would need to have holes drilled in the front of the car to mount the plate, often with a right-angle mount so that holes can be hidden. Vehicle manufacturers offer specialized brackets for each model to make installation easier and many modern cars have small dimples in the front bumper to show where screws could go. The bill would require auto body shops to require customers bringing in vehicles with damage from a collision to provide a written crash report from police before giving a written estimate. If the customer doesn't have one, the shop would have to write its own report on observable damage and what was fixed, which must be available to law enforcement within 24 hours. In 2022, David Chang struck and killed Glaubach, who was bicycling home from school in Osprey, and left her lying in the road to drive nearly 80 miles to an auto body shop in Tampa to have his car repaired and the damage obscured. He was arrested the next day anyway after a witness got a picture of his vehicle and notified police. Glaubach died 11 days later. Chang was sentenced to 15 years in prison for leaving the scene of a crash that caused great injury or death and five years for tampering with evidence, to run concurrently. Gruters filed a similar bill in 2023, but it died in committee in March 2024. Currently, 29 states require two license plates. California Colorado Hawaii Idaho Illinois Iowa Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New York North Dakota Oregon Rhode Island South Dakota Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Wisconsin Wyoming Ohio dropped its front plate requirement in 2020. If passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron. DeSantis, SB 92 would become law on July 1, 2025. However, the license plate requirement change would not begin until Jan. 1, 2026. The News Service of Florida contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida bill could require front license plates on all vehicles
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Yahoo
'Common sense solution': Florida senator seeks to get 'Lilly Glaubach Act' passed in 2025
David Chang drove almost 80 miles to an auto-body shop in Tampa after slamming into a 13-year-old girl bicycling home from Pine View School in 2022, leaving her lying in the roadway. His vision was obscured by fissures in his windshield — wind most likely whistled through the cracks from the impact of the crash. Chang later returned home on the same road where hours earlier he'd hit Lilly Glaubach. He spent one more night with his wife and daughter before police knocked on his door after a Good Samaritan saw the damaged car, snapped a photograph and alerted police. More than two years after the hit-and-run that took Glaubach's life, Chang is serving a 15-year sentence, and a Florida senator is again pushing for a bill that would help law enforcement with hit-and-run investigations. A look into hit-and-runs: One decision changed lives. Manatee County hit-and-run crash leaves behind sorrow, regret Keep reading: Why do some drivers flee after a crash? The psychology behind hit-and-runs Sen. Joe Gruters filed Senate Bill 92, also known as the Lilly Glaubach Act, in December. The bill would require auto repair shops to collect and submit crash reports before repairing cars. 'For people to shirk their responsibility and run away, it drains the entire system. It's not fair,' Gruters said. 'To me, this is a simple, common-sense solution that everybody can get behind, and trying to block or slow down a bill like this, to me, is inexcusable.' The bill, if passed, would require auto body shops to ask vehicle owners that came in with damage due to a collision to provide a written crash report from police before giving a written estimate. If the driver doesn't have a report, the repair shop would have to complete its own report, which would then be available to law enforcement within 24 hours. Gruters filed a similar bill in 2023, but it died in the Commerce and Tourism Committee in March 2024. It is only the second piece of legislation in 10 years that has been aimed at those who flee the scene of a crash. In 2014, former Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed into law the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act which increased the minimum mandatory sentence for those found guilty of fleeing a crash involving death from a year to 4 years. During an interview with the Herald-Tribune, Gruters said while the bill won't catch everybody who decides to flee after a crash, it could help bring closure to more families in a state that annually sees more than 103,000 hit-and-run crashes. As of Feb. 27, there have been 97,702 hit-and-run crashes, including 242 deaths from hit-and-run crashes, according to the Florida Department of Motor Vehicle and Highway Safety's crash dashboard. In 2023, there were 104,273 hit-and-run crashes in Florida, a decrease of less than 1% from 2022, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Larry Coggins, regional executive director with Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD, is excited about the bill being talked about and filed again. As part of the national organization's mission of ending drunk driving, the bill is a step toward bringing justice to loved ones who have lost someone to a crash. 'We know people flee crashes because they're drunk. We know that,' Coggins said. 'So, we are a big proponent and supporter of this legislation.' Coggins acknowledged those who oppose the bill will most likely argue it will place a tremendous burden on auto body shops or create an extra step that takes more time, but he disagrees. He feels that an overwhelming amount of time, drivers who come into auto body shops already have an insurance claim, crash report or a case number in hand. The bill would simply ensure due diligence for auto body shops to check with local law enforcement agencies on the small number of people who come in and claim they hit a dog, mailbox, tree or some other object and don't have any proof. The bill has been likened to current pawn shop legislation. Under Florida law, anytime an item is sold or pawned at a pawn shop, the shop is required to enter that item into a statewide database that law enforcement can access. The same would happen if the bill was passed. In Manatee County: Trial expected next week for Manatee County woman accused of fatal hit-and-run More: Sarasota Police identify car involved in hit-and-run that killed 2-year-old, 5-month-old The bill states that if estimated repairs to a car that was brought in cost $5,000 or more, the shop would require the driver to provide a written crash report. If a report is not provided, the shop will then prepare an accident or collision repair work transaction form which includes the name and address of the auto repair shop, a description of the vehicle being repaired, and detailed description of the damage. The shop would then need to submit the form to a local law enforcement agency on a daily basis and keep a copy of each form for at least a year, according to the bill. Glaubach's mother and stepfather, Sarah and Paul Alexander, are hopeful that the bill will get through the Legislature so as to prevent other families going through the uncertainty they lived through while Lilly was in the hospital fighting for her life and they had no idea who had run into her. 'It means a lot that Lilly didn't die in vain,' Paul Alexander said. 'That hopefully she can still help others. That's kind of always who she was. … (She) was always willing to help other people whether it was standing up to friends saying mean things, or whether it was her just reaching out to the new people at a school. She was always that person, and it means the world that she may still get to do that.' Recent news coverage of another Sarasota hit-and-run that killed two children and left their 29-year-old mother in a coma has brought up a lot of feelings for Sarah Alexander and her family. She said that the incident reinforces the need for the bill to be passed. She added that just talking with people in the community seems to reveal that almost everyone has had a brush with a hit-and-run or knows someone who has had a hit-and-run happen to them. "I'm just so thankful and really humbled that people still think about Lilly and think about, you know, what happened," Sarah Alexander said. "And I just, obviously, every time I do an interview like this, or think about this, it's hard. It's hard to relive things, but I do think that it's helpful ... it can be helpful to other families. I know that's what she would have wanted." Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@ or on Twitter. This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 'Lilly Glaubach Act' could help law enforcement solve more hit-and-runs
