Bay Area mother pushes Florida lawmakers for change after daughter hit by car

Florida mother pushing for safer routes to school

FOX 13’s Regina Gonzalez explains the bills in Tallahassee aimed at improving safety for thousands of students, and why one Bay Area mother says she wants lawmakers to expand the proposals even further.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Months after her 11-year-old daughter was hit by a car while riding her bike to school, a Pasco County mother traveled to Tallahassee, pleading with Florida lawmakers for changes to state law.

The backstory:

Jennifer Reznick, a mother of three from New Port Richey, said her daughter was on her way to school one morning last fall when a car hit her as she rode her bicycle. The child survived.

Reznick told lawmakers her daughter can't ride the bus to school because they live 1.9 miles from that school's campus. Florida law only allows students who live more than two miles from school to ride the bus unless there are "hazardous walking conditions."

Pictured: Jennifer Reznick speaks to Florida lawmakers in Tallahassee.

House Bill 85 and its companion, Senate Bill 650, would expand the definition of "hazardous walking conditions" to include certain walkways along highways, freeways and expressways – including entrance and exit ramps.

The measure would also reduce the two-mile restriction to one mile and require "courtesy buses" to pick up elementary school students who have had to travel along certain routes to get to and from school.

What they're saying:

Reznick wants to expand the proposed protections to middle and high school students, as well.

"When I contacted the district to say, ‘hey, are these roads dangerous enough that maybe I can get courtesy bussing for my child?’ They said 'we have nothing to discuss. It's not a law. They don't make us do it. So we're not going to,'" Reznick said when speaking to lawmakers.

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"This bill is going to save lives, but please amend it so that us parents have the right to go back to our districts and have them evaluate our children's walkways to school," Reznick said.

The push for change also comes after the recent death of a Clearwater High School student who was hit by a car while riding his bike.

A Clearwater High School student was killed while riding a bike in February.

"One baby's life is way too expensive. So this is a good first step. But I really do think that if we want to fix it for all children in the state of Florida, let's get rid of that two-mile rule and let's fund it," State Rep. Susan Valdes said.

What's next:

The Florida House Education & Employment Committee and the Senate Transportation Committee are currently weighing the bill.

The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Regina Gonzalez.

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