Florida is going to make sleek, slinky cars like the McLaren 750S look a little bit less seductive, but with the notable upside of catching dirtbags who flee the scene of an accident. Senate Bill 92, nicknamed the Lilly Glaubach Act after a 13-year-old girl killed in a hit-and-run accident, would require each vehicle in the state to run a front license plate, ostensibly to make identifying and prosecuting such drivers easier for law enforcement. The bill, filed in December by Florida Senator Joe Gruters and introduced to senate committees March 4, is currently under review.
The Bill Has Support In Senate Committees So FarGruters introduced a similar bill in 2023, but it died in committee. The original actions of SB 92 would require vehicle repair shops to submit descriptions of damaged vehicles to the state, allowing investigators to keep tabs of hit-and-run suspects. An amendment to the bill on March 17 described requiring front-mounted license plates, which would allow witnesses and nearby surveillance cameras to more easily document and identify cars involved in accidents.
Although the 2023 bill died in March 2024, the current iteration has unanimous support from each stage of approval. The Florida Senate’s Commerce and Tourism Committee passed it with a vote of eight to zero, while the Appropriations Committee On Agriculture, Environment, and General Government gave it 12-0 approval. The bill will be introduced to the main body of the Florida senate when it convenes on March 27, and its fate should be decided by the time the group adjourns in late May. Given the 2023 bill died in committee, the progress on Gruters’ second such act is promising.
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License Plate Safety Has Become A Pedestrian Issue
If the bill passes, Florida will join the 29 other states in the US that require a front plate, including California, Utah, Wyoming, and Hawaii. Currently, only a rear plate is mandatory in Florida, which makes vehicle ownership and registration a little bit easier. However, the front plate issue has reared its head in terms of the very collision cases Florida’s senate bill hopes to prosecute. For example, Alfa Romeo is ditching its offset front plate mount – which preserves the company’s famed Trilobo front grille design – in the name of pedestrian safety. The Junior, for example, uses a very low-mounted front plate, which looks decent but might end up catching steep driveways and parking blocks.
Nevertheless, Florida is pursuing SB 92 as a means of solving its persistent hit-and-run problems. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles crash tracker, the state experienced more than 97,000 hit-and-run crashes in 2024, resulting in a staggering 243 fatalities and 20,000-plus injuries. Although the front plate law may not prevent those crashes from occurring, if all parties remained on the scene of the accident and summoned emergency services immediately (out of fear of prosecution), it could reduce that fatality count by getting victims the help they need.
Source: Florida State Senate and Sarasota Herald-Tribune via Carscoops
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