Florida Senate - 2016                              CS for SB 522
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Transportation; and Senators Soto and Flores
       
       596-02371-16                                           2016522c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to traffic safety on state roads;
    3         creating s. 335.085, F.S.; providing a short title;
    4         requiring the Department of Transportation to install
    5         roadside barriers to shield water bodies contiguous
    6         with state roads at certain locations by a specified
    7         date under certain circumstances; providing
    8         applicability; requiring the department to conduct a
    9         study related to certain motor vehicle accidents on
   10         state roads contiguous with water bodies which
   11         occurred during a specified timeframe, subject to
   12         certain requirements; requiring the department to
   13         submit a report to the Legislature by a specified
   14         date, subject to certain requirements; providing an
   15         effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Section 335.085, Florida Statutes, is created to
   20  read:
   21         335.085 Installation of roadside barriers along certain
   22  water bodies contiguous with state roads.—
   23         (1) This section shall be cited as “Chloe’s Law.”
   24         (2) By June 30, 2018, the department shall install roadside
   25  barriers to shield water bodies contiguous with state roads at
   26  locations where a death due to drowning resulted from a motor
   27  vehicle accident in which a vehicle departed the adjacent state
   28  road during the period between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2016.
   29  This requirement does not apply to any location at which the
   30  department’s chief engineer determines, based on engineering
   31  principles, that installation of a barrier would increase the
   32  risk of injury to motorists traveling on the adjacent state
   33  road.
   34         Section 2. The Department of Transportation shall review
   35  all motor vehicle accidents that resulted in death due to
   36  drowning in a water body contiguous with a state road and that
   37  occurred during the period between July 1, 2006, and July 1,
   38  2016. The department shall use the reconciled crash data
   39  received from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
   40  Vehicles and shall submit a report to the President of the
   41  Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by
   42  January 3, 2017, providing recommendations regarding any
   43  necessary changes to state laws and department rules to enhance
   44  traffic safety.
   45         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.