Bill Text: FL S0206 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Highway Memorial Markers
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Transportation [S0206 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S0206-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 206
By Senator Perry
8-00210-18 2018206__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to highway memorial markers; creating
3 s. 335.094, F.S.; providing legislative intent;
4 requiring the Department of Transportation to
5 establish a process, including the adoption of any
6 forms deemed necessary by the department, for
7 submitting applications for installation of a memorial
8 marker; specifying the persons who may submit such
9 applications to the department; requiring the
10 department to establish criteria for the design and
11 fabrication of memorial markers; authorizing the
12 department to install a certain sign at no charge to
13 an applicant; providing that memorial markers may
14 incorporate the available emblems of belief approved
15 by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
16 National Cemetery Administration upon the request of
17 the applicant and payment of a reasonable fee set by
18 the department to offset production costs; authorizing
19 an applicant to request an emblem of belief not
20 specifically approved by the United States Department
21 of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration
22 for incorporation in a memorial marker, subject to
23 certain requirements; requiring the department to
24 notify applicants if additional information is
25 required and to advise them that no further action on
26 the application will be taken until the additional
27 information is provided; providing requirements for
28 placement of the memorial marker by the department;
29 requiring the department to remove memorial markers if
30 the department determines that the presence of a
31 marker creates a safety hazard; providing for
32 disposition of such markers; providing an effective
33 date.
34
35 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37 Section 1. Section 335.094, Florida Statutes, is created to
38 read:
39 335.094 Highway memorial markers.—
40 (1) In recognition of the department’s mission to provide a
41 safe transportation system, the Legislature intends that the
42 department allow the use of highway memorial markers at or near
43 the location of traffic-related fatalities on the State Highway
44 System to raise public awareness of highway safety issues and
45 remind motorists to drive safely by memorializing people who
46 have died as a result of a traffic-related crash.
47 (2) The department shall establish a process, including the
48 adoption of any forms it deems necessary, for submitting
49 applications for installation of a memorial marker as authorized
50 in this section. Applications may be submitted to the department
51 by:
52 (a) A member of the decedent’s family, including the
53 decedent’s spouse; a child, parent, or sibling of the decedent,
54 whether biological or adopted or a step relation; and any lineal
55 or collateral descendant of the decedent; or
56 (b) Any individual who is responsible under the laws of
57 this state for the disposition of the unclaimed remains of the
58 decedent or for other matters relating to the interment or
59 memorialization of the decedent.
60 (3) The department shall establish criteria for the design
61 and fabrication of memorial markers, including, but not limited
62 to, marker components, fabrication material, and size.
63 (4)(a) The department may install, at no charge to the
64 applicant, a round aluminum sign panel with a white background
65 and black letters uniformly inscribed “Drive Safely, In Memory
66 Of” followed by the decedent’s name.
67 (b) Upon the request of the applicant and payment of a
68 reasonable fee determined by the department to offset production
69 costs, memorial markers may incorporate the available emblems of
70 belief approved by the United States Department of Veterans
71 Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
72 (c) An applicant may request an emblem of belief not
73 specifically approved by the United States Department of
74 Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration for
75 incorporation in a memorial marker as follows:
76 1. The applicant must certify that the proposed emblem of
77 belief represents the decedent’s religious affiliation, the
78 decedent’s sincerely held religious belief system, or another
79 sincerely held belief system embraced by the decedent which was
80 functionally equivalent to a religious belief system. The
81 religion or belief system represented by an emblem need not be
82 associated with or endorsed by a church or organized religious
83 denomination or other group. However, the emblem or any graphic,
84 logo, or symbol it contains may not relate to social, cultural,
85 ethnic, civic, fraternal, trade, commercial, political,
86 professional, or military status.
87 2. In the absence of evidence to the contrary, the
88 department shall accept as genuine an applicant’s statement of
89 the religious affiliation, sincerely held religious belief
90 system, or functionally equivalent belief system of the
91 decedent.
92 (d) If the department determines that an application for a
93 memorial marker is incomplete, the department must notify the
94 applicant in writing as to the additional information required
95 and that no further action will be taken on the application
96 until the additional information is provided.
97 (5) The department shall place a memorial marker for any
98 approved application at or near the location of the fatality as
99 close to the right-of-way line as possible in a position that is
100 least likely to cause driver distraction.
101 (6) Memorial markers are intended to remind passing
102 motorists of the dangers of unsafe driving and are not intended
103 for visitation. The department shall remove a memorial marker if
104 the department determines that the presence of the marker
105 creates a safety hazard and post a notice as close as possible
106 to the spot where the marker was located which indicates that
107 the marker has been removed and provides contact information so
108 that the applicant can arrange to pick up the marker. The
109 department shall store any such markers for at least 60 days,
110 after which time it may dispose of the marker as it deems
111 appropriate.
112 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2018.
