On October 9, 2025, my family member Ken was walking on a sidewalk when a driver’s vehicle veered off the road, crossed multiple lanes, traveled over a grassy embankment, and struck him with devastating force. He suffered serious bodily injury — the kind that changes a person’s entire future.

Yet the driver was not charged with a crime.
They received a traffic infraction:

$500 fine
90-day license suspension
No arrest
No jail
No criminal record

Only eight days earlier, on October 1, a new Florida law (HB 253) took effect making a license-plate frame violation a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail — even when no one is hurt.

Let that sink in:

A decorative license-plate frame can send someone to jail.
Causing serious bodily injury to a pedestrian cannot.

We fully acknowledge that there are rare situations where a driver experiences a sudden, unforeseeable medical emergency that removes voluntary control. Those individuals should not face criminal punishment for something they could not control.

But when a vehicle leaves its lane, travels beyond the roadway, and strikes someone on a sidewalk, the consequences should not be limited to a traffic ticket — especially when Florida criminalizes so many non-injury offenses more harshly.

Florida Offenses With Harsher Penalties (Even With No Injury):
Obscured license plate
Possessing a plate-obscuring device
Selling such devices
Driving with suspended license
False proof of insurance
Racing
Extreme speeding
Improper or false tag

All criminal.
None require injury.
Yet injuring a pedestrian does not meet the threshold.

We urge the Florida Legislature to:
Reclassify “Careless Driving with Serious Bodily Injury” as a crime
Require charging review for pedestrian and vulnerable road-user crashes
Clarify the line between careless and reckless
Ensure penalties reflect actual harm
This is not just about Ken— it’s about every Floridian walking our streets.

Please sign and share. Florida must put human life first.