Florida Today ran a recent story about the Sophia Nelson Pedestrian Safety Act, a bill to introduce better safety lights for Florida’s pedestrian areas.
The impetus of the bill was the tragic death of a 12-year old girl, Sophia Nelson, in 2019. Pedestrian crosswalks currently only have a yellow flashing light — and the bill would require red flashing lights for pedestrian areas with speed limits above 35 mph.
David Alpizar, the family’s attorney, has long supported the bill which passed the house nearly unanimously last winter but was dropped in a Florida Senate Committee.
With renewed effort, we may see the bill pass this year. The Florida Department of Transportation has already lowered the speed limit in the area to 35 mph, and changed it’s traffic engineering manual to require that red flashing lights are placed in pedestrian areas with speed limits over 35 mph.
Attorney David Alpizar said, “We made it a very long way in a very short period of time last year. And we’re excited about the momentum that the issue seems to have this year.”
Read more about the Sophia Nelson Pedestrian Safety Act.
