On the first day of each month, hundreds of people, including Rivera’s immediate family, will stand at the corner of Forsyth and Amethyst roads where Rivera was killed by a car involved in a street race. He was walking on the sidewalk on his way to play basketball.
Following impact, Rivera was thrown 30 feet into a parking lot. On Feb. 1, they collected more than 2,000 signatures from people who want something to be done about the street-racing issue in Orange County. “He was a straight-A student and a great basketball player,” Devalle said. “My sister (Rivera’s mother) did not want to gather with us for Valentine’s Day as we normally do to dance and watch movies, and eat roasted pork and tamales.
None of us could. All we kept seeing was his beautiful smile.” On Tuesday state Representative Darren Soto and state Senator Lee Constantine filed companion bills that will hopefully help police and county officials in Florida crack down on street racing and its spectators. Earlier this month, Orange County Commissioner Linda Stewart brought forward a proposal that would serve the same purpose.
However, the commission decided to wait until the Florida Legislature makes a decision. Police are nearly powerless to stop street racing because of an Orange County Sheriff’s Office no-pursuit policy. Plus, current penalties make it hard to impound the racing vehicles or revoke a racer’s driver’s license.
The man whose car killed Rivera was given a traffic ticket. Similar bills submitted to the Florida Supreme Court in the past were thrown out because the language was too vague. This bill will be voted on during the spring legislative session. “This bill is going to clean up language that the courts have thrown out when other bills came forward.
This one is very, very specific,” said Stewart, who has worked closely with Soto and Constantine on the bill. “The bill will also give more power to the police and impose stricter penalties. The penalties will reflect those for a DUI (driving under the influence).” Stewart said more than 400 citations dealing with racing have been issued in Central Florida during the last two years.
About 12 deaths have been caused by street racing so far this year in Central Florida, with two just in the first week of 2008. “We have had too many deaths, too many people disobeying our laws and getting people hurt and disabled,” she said. Two of those deaths occurred within Soto’s communities on the east side.
He was present at some of the families’ memorials and attended the Rivera rally on Feb. 1. “I am trying not to make this personal, but there were several deaths in my community. I am trying to deal with the grieving families, and the frustrated police officers and commissioners,” he said. Devalle plans to continue the rallies every first day of the month on the corner where her nephew died to gain more support until the bill goes before the Legislature.
She has also knocked on hundreds of doors, from Apopka to Oviedo, to gather signatures. “Our Luicito’s (Rivera’s nickname) life cannot be in vain — it has to make a change,” she said. “The man who killed our baby is free right now. It feels like no one cares. But I trust that one day he will be arrested and he will learn his lesson. I will not stop.” Devalle’s sister, Lisa Rivera, is too devastated to join in the fight. She came to the first rally but could not participate in other events.
“My sister is have a very hard time. She does not have the strength to fight. She just cried and begs for justice. So I will fight for her,” she said. “She went out to get teddy bears for her children on Valentine’s Day and she bought three.
She could not stand to get one for Luis.” Former street-racing bills have never covering spectators. The new bill will penalize “knowing” spectators with a civil fine of $250 to $500. Stewart said if the spectators stop coming, then people will have no reason to race. Devalle agreed. “I feel like the spectators are just as guilty, just as responsible, for these deaths.
They should say, ‘Hey, let’s go to Daytona or Tampa or Bithlo,’” Devalle said. “It is a lack of responsibility and a lack of consciousness. I see it as inhuman not to think about anyone’s life but theirs.”
