| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to highway safety; creating the Anjelica |
| 3 | and Victoria Velez Memorial Traffic Safety Act; amending |
| 4 | s. 318.18, F.S.; revising penalty for moving violation of |
| 5 | traffic control signal steady red indication; providing |
| 6 | for distribution of moneys collected; amending s. 318.21, |
| 7 | F.S.; providing for distribution of specified civil |
| 8 | penalties; amending s. 322.0261, F.S.; requiring driver |
| 9 | improvement course for a second moving violation of |
| 10 | traffic control signal steady red indication within a |
| 11 | specified time period; providing penalty for failure to |
| 12 | complete said course within a specified time period; |
| 13 | amending s. 322.27, F.S.; assigning point value for |
| 14 | conviction of moving violation of traffic control signal |
| 15 | steady red indication; creating s. 395.4036, F.S.; |
| 16 | providing for distribution of funds to trauma centers; |
| 17 | providing for audits and attestations; providing an |
| 18 | effective date. |
| 19 |
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| 20 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 21 |
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| 22 | Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Anjelica and |
| 23 | Victoria Velez Memorial Traffic Safety Act." |
| 24 | Section 2. Subsection (14) is added to section 318.18, |
| 25 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 26 | 318.18 Amount of civil penalties.--The penalties required |
| 27 | for a noncriminal disposition pursuant to s. 318.14 are as |
| 28 | follows: |
| 29 | (14) One hundred twenty-five dollars for a violation of s. |
| 30 | 316.075(1)(c)1., of which $60 shall be distributed as provided |
| 31 | in s. 318.21 and the remaining $65 shall be remitted to the |
| 32 | Department of Revenue for deposit into the Administrative Trust |
| 33 | Fund of the Department of Health. |
| 34 | Section 3. Subsection (13) is added to section 318.21, |
| 35 | Florida Statutes, to read: |
| 36 | 318.21 Disposition of civil penalties by county |
| 37 | courts.--All civil penalties received by a county court pursuant |
| 38 | to the provisions of this chapter shall be distributed and paid |
| 39 | monthly as follows: |
| 40 | (13) Of the proceeds from the fine under s. 318.18(14), |
| 41 | $65 shall be remitted to the Department of Revenue for deposit |
| 42 | into the Administrative Trust Fund of the Department of Health |
| 43 | and the remaining $60 shall be distributed pursuant to |
| 44 | subsections (1) and (2). |
| 45 | Section 4. Section 322.0261, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 46 | to read: |
| 47 | 322.0261 Mandatory Driver improvement course; requirement |
| 48 | to maintain driving privileges; failure to complete; department |
| 49 | approval of course certain crashes.-- |
| 50 | (1) The department shall screen crash reports received |
| 51 | under s. 316.066 or s. 324.051 to identify crashes involving the |
| 52 | following: |
| 53 | (a) A crash involving death or a bodily injury requiring |
| 54 | transport to a medical facility; or |
| 55 | (b) A second crash by the same operator within the |
| 56 | previous 2-year period involving property damage in an apparent |
| 57 | amount of at least $500. |
| 58 | (2) With respect to an operator convicted of, or who |
| 59 | pleaded nolo contendere to, a traffic offense giving rise to a |
| 60 | crash identified pursuant to subsection (1), the department |
| 61 | shall require that the operator, in addition to other applicable |
| 62 | penalties, attend a department-approved departmentally approved |
| 63 | driver improvement course in order to maintain driving |
| 64 | privileges. If the operator fails to complete the course within |
| 65 | 90 days of receiving notice from the department, the operator's |
| 66 | driver's license shall be canceled by the department until the |
| 67 | course is successfully completed. |
| 68 | (3) The department shall identify any operator convicted |
| 69 | of, or who pleaded nolo contendere to, a second violation of s. |
| 70 | 316.075(1)(c)1., which violation occurred within 12 months after |
| 71 | the first violation, and shall require that operator, in |
| 72 | addition to other applicable penalties, to attend a department- |
| 73 | approved driver improvement course in order to maintain driving |
| 74 | privileges. If the operator fails to complete the course within |
| 75 | 90 days after receiving notice from the department, the |
| 76 | operator's driver license shall be canceled by the department |
| 77 | until the course is successfully completed. |
| 78 | (4)(3) In determining whether to approve a driver |
| 79 | improvement course for the purposes of this section, the |
| 80 | department shall consider course content designed to promote |
| 81 | safety, driver awareness, crash avoidance techniques, and other |
| 82 | factors or criteria to improve driver performance from a safety |
| 83 | viewpoint. |
| 84 | Section 5. Paragraph (d) of subsection (3) of section |
| 85 | 322.27, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 86 | 322.27 Authority of department to suspend or revoke |
| 87 | license.-- |
| 88 | (3) There is established a point system for evaluation of |
| 89 | convictions of violations of motor vehicle laws or ordinances, |
| 90 | and violations of applicable provisions of s. 403.413(6)(b) when |
| 91 | such violations involve the use of motor vehicles, for the |
| 92 | determination of the continuing qualification of any person to |
| 93 | operate a motor vehicle. The department is authorized to suspend |
| 94 | the license of any person upon showing of its records or other |
| 95 | good and sufficient evidence that the licensee has been |
| 96 | convicted of violation of motor vehicle laws or ordinances, or |
| 97 | applicable provisions of s. 403.413(6)(b), amounting to 12 or |
| 98 | more points as determined by the point system. The suspension |
| 99 | shall be for a period of not more than 1 year. |
| 100 | (d) The point system shall have as its basic element a |
| 101 | graduated scale of points assigning relative values to |
| 102 | convictions of the following violations: |
| 103 | 1. Reckless driving, willful and wanton--4 points. |
| 104 | 2. Leaving the scene of a crash resulting in property |
| 105 | damage of more than $50--6 points. |
| 106 | 3. Unlawful speed resulting in a crash--6 points. |
| 107 | 4. Passing a stopped school bus--4 points. |
| 108 | 5. Unlawful speed: |
| 109 | a. Not in excess of 15 miles per hour of lawful or posted |
| 110 | speed--3 points. |
| 111 | b. In excess of 15 miles per hour of lawful or posted |
| 112 | speed--4 points. |
| 113 | 6. A violation of a traffic control signal device as |
| 114 | provided in s. 316.075(1)(c)1.--4 points. |
| 115 | 7.6. All other moving violations (including parking on a |
| 116 | highway outside the limits of a municipality)--3 points. |
| 117 | However, no points shall be imposed for a violation of s. |
| 118 | 316.0741 or s. 316.2065(12). |
| 119 | 8.7. Any moving violation covered above, excluding |
| 120 | unlawful speed, resulting in a crash--4 points. |
| 121 | 9.8. Any conviction under s. 403.413(5)(b)--3 points. |
| 122 | Section 6. Section 395.4036, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 123 | to read: |
| 124 | 395.4036 Trauma payments.-- |
| 125 | (1) Recognizing the Legislature's stated intent to provide |
| 126 | financial support to the current verified trauma centers and to |
| 127 | provide incentives for the establishment of additional trauma |
| 128 | centers as part of a system of state-sponsored trauma centers, |
| 129 | the department shall utilize funds collected under s. 318.18(14) |
| 130 | and deposited into the Administrative Trust Fund of the |
| 131 | department to ensure the availability and accessibility of |
| 132 | trauma services throughout the state as provided in this |
| 133 | subsection. |
| 134 | (a) Twenty percent of the total funds collected under this |
| 135 | subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma centers |
| 136 | located in a region that has a local funding contribution as of |
| 137 | December 31. Distribution of funds under this paragraph shall be |
| 138 | based on trauma caseload volume. |
| 139 | (b) Forty percent of the total funds collected under this |
| 140 | subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma centers based |
| 141 | on trauma caseload volume of the previous calendar year. The |
| 142 | determination of caseload volume for distribution of funds under |
| 143 | this paragraph shall be based on the department's Trauma |
| 144 | Registry data. |
| 145 | (c) Forty percent of the total funds collected under this |
| 146 | subsection shall be distributed to verified trauma centers based |
| 147 | on severity of trauma patients. The determination of severity |
| 148 | for distribution of funds under this paragraph shall be based on |
| 149 | the department's Injury Severity Scores, weighted based on |
| 150 | scores of 1-14 and 15 plus. |
| 151 | (2)(a) Any trauma center not subject to audit pursuant to |
| 152 | s. 215.97 shall annually attest, under penalties of perjury, |
| 153 | that such proceeds were used in compliance with law. The annual |
| 154 | attestation shall be made in a form and format determined by the |
| 155 | department. |
| 156 | (b) Any trauma center subject to audit pursuant to s. |
| 157 | 215.97 shall submit an audit report in accordance with rules |
| 158 | adopted by the Auditor General. The annual attestation shall be |
| 159 | submitted to the department for review within 9 months after the |
| 160 | end of the organization's fiscal year. |
| 161 | (3) The department, working with the Agency for Health |
| 162 | Care Administration, shall maximize resources for trauma |
| 163 | services wherever possible. |
| 164 | Section 7. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |