New push to stop hit and run crashes through special alert system

Kimberly Wiggins’ life was ripped apart when a car slammed into her husband, Rasheed, throwing him into traffic on Universal Boulevard in April 2016.

That driver didn’t stop.  Neither did the next one. 

“A second person [who]wasn't paying attention, whose face was illuminated by the light of a cell phone, ran over my husband a second time and kept going,” she said. 

Both drivers got away. 

"I think there were enough people in that area who could have been able to lead investigators to one of those two cars we're still looking for today,” Wiggins said.

The crash happened sometime after 11 p.m. and the public didn’t know to be on the lookout for the cars that left the scene until the Florida Highway Patrol released limited information about the vehicles the next day. 

"If we can capitalized on those first few seconds, hours, minutes, days, it could really make a difference,” Wiggins said.

Wiggins thinks there’s a way to do that: set up an alert system, like the Amber Alert system that’s used to help locate missing and endangered kids.

The one Wiggins is advocating would put out information about vehicles involved in fatal hit and runs on the Florida Department of Transportation’s electronic message boards within minutes of a crash. 

"The alert system shouldn't cost anything extra, however the sense of security and hope you can provide loved ones would be priceless,” Wiggins said.

Troopers and several central Florida lawmakers say they’re all for it—announcing a proposed bill to make it happen. 

“It is important to improve our system to notify our citizens of imminent threats to the public,” said State Senator David Simmons in a written statement. 

Simmons, along with State Senator Vic Torres, (D)-Orlando, and Rep. Scott Plakon, (R)-Longwood, are sponsoring the bill.  

Similar systems are already in place in Colorado and California.  There’s not enough information yet to assess their effectiveness, but Wiggins said if the alerts help solve even one case, it’s enough. 

"If it helps investigators find that one car.  And it's that one car that you need because it's tied to your loved one.  It means everything.”

She’s fighting in the name of the man who meant everything to her.