How we did it in Florida...

Steps to Getting the "Share the Road"
License Plate in Florida

by Henry Lawrence

Florida has a system that requires the creation of a "Specialty License Plate" to meet certain criteria. When I started the "Share The Road" specialty license plate campaign, the first thing I did was to contact the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV), because in Florida that is the Department responsible for the issuance of license plates. My contact was a lady named Gail Cristy Jones and her responsibility among others is to assist folks like me. I requested and she sent to me the requirements for a specialty license plate, which at the time were:

  1. 10,000 signatures of licensed (automobile owning) Florida drivers (folks who can buy a tag) We actually had to go back out and collect an additional 1,500 signatures in the last week of November just prior to our Dec. 1 1998 deadline, because we had so many faulty signatures either illegible or otherwise.
  2. $30,000 which we were fortunate to have a major sponsor for, Bike Florida, Inc.. We had collected only $1,360.00 prior to Bike Florida offering to loan FBA the money. Bike Florida was later able to get a 402 Federal Safety Grant through the Florida Department of Transportation Safety Office for $120,000.00 of which the $30,000.00 was reimbursed to Bike Florida. This same grant money is available in other states.
  3. A Marketing Plan had to be submitted to DHSMV showing how the money raised from the tag would be used. FBA and Bike Florida had already decided to use it for hosting bicycle safety trainings, bicycle advocacy workshops, providing mini-grants to communities for bicycle safety and small bicycle facilities projects, and advertising the Share The Road message statewide on billboards, buses, flyers, brochures, banners, radio, television, everywhere we can find space and support for the cause.
  4. Legislation authorizing the tag had to be passed in the Florida House of Representatives and Senate. We found legislators to sponsor our Bill: Rep. Bob Casey from Gainesville, Florida for the House of Representatives legislation and Sen. Donald Sullivan from St. Petersburg, Florida for the Senate legislation. Both are doctors and both had supported and sponsored the mandatory bicycle helmet bill (age 15 and under) which passed two years before.

The rest was writing letters to encourage other Legislators and Senators to support the bills. We held a breakfast during the legislative session to thank supporters for their sponsorship. And most important, we stuck together through good times and bad over the two years it took to bring it to fruition.

I almost gave up the first year, because a new bill was passed requiring more stringent requirements for a new tag — 30,000 signatures and $60,000 up front, but I finally found out that we were grandfathered in under the old rules and took up the call again for the second year until we were finally so close to the mark that Bike Florida's Treasurer, Jimmy Carnes offered to make the Loan and help with getting the last few signatures. Without his help it would never have happened. As the Executive Director of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports he was our Lifesaver in the end.

Your state is probably going to be different in many respects, but my suggestion is to first call and find out which agency is responsible for the specialty tags and START. If I can help in any way please don't hesitate to contact me.

Tailwinds!
Henry
   
   

Florida Bicycle Association | P.O. Box 718 | Waldo, FL 32694

The Florida Bicycle Association (FBA) was incorporated in 1997 for educational and charitable purposes.
FBA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Donations, including membership dues, are tax-deductible.
A copy of the current financial statements may be obtained by contacting
FBA, P.O. Box 718, Waldo, FL 32694.