FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Representative Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) filed HB 1371, which would require all pedestrian-only “flashing yellow” crosswalks to be converted to full-stop red-lights upon request by a pedestrian – or removed. This legislation would affect all of the recently-installed crosswalks on Florida Highway A1A in Brevard County, as well as all others throughout the state.

“A crosswalk is supposed to be a safe place for a pedestrian to cross the street, but as we saw in December to devastating consequence, a flashing yellow crosswalk does not work,” said Fine. “It’s quite simple – drivers know that a red light means stop. Yellow doesn’t. So this legislation would dictate that if government is going to create dedicated pedestrian crosswalks usable upon demand, the light should flash red once the button is pushed.”

An identical version of the legislation has been filed in the Florida Senate by Senator Keith Perry (R-Gainesville), SB 1000.

“This vital piece of legislation aims to combat the life threatening issue of pedestrian safety in midblock crosswalks. When every second counts, we need to do everything in our power to keep all Floridians safeguarded from the confusion that can tragically result in drivers not stopping in time. Thank you Representative Fine for joining me in championing this much-needed bill.”

This bill will be considered in the upcoming 2020 legislative session, which will begin today.