Local

New bill would post hit-and-run info on Florida highway message boards

NOW PLAYING ABOVE

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Today is the start of Hit-and-Run Awareness Month, and Florida Highway Patrol troopers are trying to encourage drivers not to drive away from a crash.

The push comes as Channel 9 learned a new bill is being drafted that could help catch drivers who leave the scene of a crash.

Kim Wiggins first told us in December she was pushing for the law, which is already in place in Colorado and California.

Troopers in those states use electronic message boards on highways, alerting drivers of hit-and-runs causing serious bodily harm or death. But law enforcement agencies there require a full or partial license plate, the make of the vehicle, along with the style and color or the full identity of the driver.

Wiggins' husband, Rasheed, was killed last year in a hit-and-run crash.

Three different drivers hit him, and only one of them stopped.

State troopers had descriptions of the vehicles involved, but could only rely on the media hours later to help put out the information.

Wiggins wants that to change.

“It's not that big of a deal until your husband crosses the street to get some snacks and never returns home, and then it becomes your life,” Wiggins told Channel 9 investigative reporter

Daralene Jones.

State Sen. David Simmons' office released the language of the bill that was submitted.

“We need to hold these people accountable and the legislatures<

> have improved the penalty, but we need to find another way to get these people to stay,” Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Kim Montes said in December.
More on crash that killed Rasheed Wiggins

In Central Florida, there were more than 39 deadly hit-and-runs in 2016. Twenty-one were in Orange County, compared to nine in all of 2015.

Of the 21, only five vehicles have been located.

Those are disheartening statistics for the widow of Rasheed Wiggins, whose life was filled with a host of family and friends.

Rasheed Wiggins even garnered attention from President Obama upon his death.

“He went to the store for some snacks, we didn't even say goodbye," Kim Wiggins said. "He never came home. He was so close. He was so close to that side of the sidewalk."

Wiggins is now looking for a state representative to commit to sponsoring the bill language being drafted so there is a companion bill in the House.

0