Florida House Passes Aaron Cohen Act

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami) - The Florida House has unanimously passed the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act.

The bill, named after cyclist Aaron Cohen, would toughen penalties for hit-and-run drivers in serious accidents.   The bill creates a four-year minimum mandatory sentence for drivers who leave the scenes of accidents involving deaths. Current law does not include a minimum-mandatory requirement, which some lawmakers said sometimes gave drivers an incentive to leave accident scenes.

The bill also makes it a second-degree felony, rather than a third-degree felony, and carry the potential revocation of a driver's license for a motorist who fails to remain at the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injuries.

The measure was unanimously approved in the state's Senate last month.

Cohen was cycling on the Rickenbacker Causeway on February 15th, 2012 when a drunk driver struck him and drove off. Cohen, a tri-athlete and avid cyclist, sustained multiple injuries and was rushed to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He died a day later.

The driver convicted in the accident that killed Cohen served less than a year in jail.

The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.