Irv Slosberg gets his wish - after 11 years
by Dara Kam | April 29th, 2009After 11 years, Irv Slosberg finally got his wish.
A bill making it a primary offense to drive without wearing a seat belt is on its way to Gov. Charlie Crist’s desk.
The House passed the measure (SB 344), named after Slosberg’s daughter Dori, who was 14 years old when she was killed in a car crash in 1996, and Katie Marchetti, a 16-year-old Tampa girl who died in a car crash in 2006. Crist is expected to sign it tomorrow.
Slosberg said he started pushing the bill in 1998 when he testified before a state House committee considering a similar proposal. More than a decade later, his tenaciousness paid off.
Getting the legislation passed was Slosberg’s reason for running for - and winning - a seat in the state House. The Boca Raton Democrat served from 2000-2006 but was never able to get lawmakers to sign off on the bill.
“It’s my daughter watching down on us,” Slosberg, near tears, said outside the House chambers shortly after the 95-20 vote. “I feel that she’s watching down on me and on us, the community, and making sure that what happened to her…making sure that it doesn’t happen to anyone else, what happened to our family.”
“Because wow does this change your life,” he went on. “After she died I did four things. I went to the gym. I went to Starbucks. I went to the cemetery. And I cried. For three years.”
Tags: Charlie Crist, State House, State Senate
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