Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Florida

One Woman’s Decade-Long Struggle for Safer Intersections in Florida

Melissa Wandall became the leading force for red-light camera enforcement in Florida after losing her husband Mark in 2003, while nine months pregnant. Photo: Melissa Wandall

In a unanimous decision earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court upheld legislation known as the "Mark Wandall Traffic Safety Act," allowing Florida municipalities to continue to use cameras to ticket motorists who run red lights.

It was a victory for safety in the country's most dangerous state for walking. And it was thanks to one woman's long struggle. For more than a decade, Melissa Wandall has led a campaign to prevent others from sharing her fate. She was nine months pregnant in 2003, when she lost her husband to a red-light runner in Bradenton.

Melissa didn't want jail time for the woman who was responsible for Mark's death (she was sentenced to community service and a $500 fine). "I didn’t want to be a broken mommy," she said. "I wanted to take what we had and make sense of it and try to make it better for the next person who came along."

With her baby daughter, Madisyn Grace (now 14) in tow, she started a one-woman lobbying campaign, often driving five hours to Tallahassee to press state lawmakers for action on red-light running.

"There’s no real roadway injury prevention urgency going on in our political system until you share numbers," she said. "You have to keep cultivating these conversations."

More than 5,000 pedestrians were killed in Florida between 2005 and 2014. An Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study of 117 cities, a number of them in Florida, found that those with camera programs have 21 percent fewer fatal red-light-running crashes.

Florida's red-light camera legislation is named for Mark Wandall, who killed by a red-light runner in 2003. Photo: Melissa Wandall
Florida's red-light camera legislation is named for Mark Wandall, who killed by a motorist in 2003. Photo: Melissa Wandall
Florida's red-light camera legislation is named for Mark Wandall, who killed by a red-light runner in 2003. Photo: Melissa Wandall

It took six years of testimony and outreach, but in 2010, the Mark Wandall Act was passed.

Now more than 50 municipal governments across the state use red-light cameras. But each year since the law was adopted, there have been attempts to repeal it.

A 2016 appeals court ruling in favor of a motorist who challenged a ticket led municipalities across the state to suspend their camera programs. But the Supreme Court's reversal should settle the matter.

Streetsblog asked Melissa if she thought Mark would be proud of what she has done. "I think he would be happy that I didn’t get lost in my grief," she said.

Wandall was a director of sales for a hotel chain, and had no background in advocacy. Ultimately, she said, her campaign required educating people and exercising patience.

"My husband was an incredible man and he could not wait to be a father," she said. "I never had any anger to the person who did it because it wouldn’t bring him back and wouldn’t help me raise my daughter."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: Are We All Living in a ‘Carspiracy’?

How does "car-brain" shape the way we think about the world — even in relatively bike-friendly countries like the U.K.?

July 26, 2024

Friday’s Headlines Share and Share Alike

Bikeshares, and e-bikes and scooters generally, are becoming more popular. That's led to more injuries, highlighting the need for better infrastructure.

July 26, 2024

What the Heck is Going on With the California E-Bike Incentive Program?

The program's launch has been delayed for two years, and currently "there is no specific timeline" for it. Plus the administrator, Pedal Ahead, is getting dragged, but details are vague.

July 26, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: Have Cities Run Out of Land?

Chris Redfearn of USC and Anthony Orlando of Cal Poly Pomona on why "pro-business" Texas housing markets are catching up to "pro-regulation" California and what it might mean for future city growth.

July 25, 2024

The Paris Plan for Olympic Traffic? Build More Bike Lanes

A push to make Paris fully bikable for the Olympics is already paying dividends long before the opening ceremonies.

July 25, 2024
See all posts