OSPREY, Fla. — Florida lawmakers have introduced a bill aimed at tracking down and catch hit-and-run drivers.
It's called "The Lilly Glaubach Act," named after the teenage girl from Sarasota County who was killed when a car hit her while she was riding her bicycle home from Pine View School in Osprey in Aug. 2022.
The driver convicted in Glaubach's death, David Chang, reportedly kept driving, took his car to a body shop in Tampa, and claimed that the hole that had been left in his windshield from the collision was due to a tree falling on his car. While Chang was reported to the sheriff's office by a concerned citizen, law enforcement generally have a difficult time tracking down hit-and-run drivers.
The Lilly Glaubach Act (SB 194), if it passes, would require all auto repair shops to get a written accident report from the driver of a car before they do any repair work on it. If a driver declines to provide a report, the auto shop would have to fill out forms that are sent to law enforcement. This would potentially allow law enforcement to seek out information about cars brought in for repair that match reports of collisions.
Chang, 66, was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by three years probation after he entered an open plea for one count of leaving the scene of a deadly crash and one count of tampering with evidence.
The Lilly Glaubach Act has been filed for the 2024 legislative session.
