Florida SB 1378: Corporate Espionage

Bill Text

1378 
Traffic Enforcement 
2026-01-07T10:17:15Z 
Defining the term “abandoned vehicle”; revising the circumstances under which law enforcement officers and traffic accident investigation officers may provide for the removal of an abandoned vehicle to the nearest garage or place of safety; prohibiting a person from operating a motor vehicle that the person knows bears a registration license plate or validation sticker that was not issued and assigned or lawfully transferred to the motor vehicle; specifying that using a motor vehicle to flee or attempt to elude a law enforcement officer is a circumstance under which a seizure of the motor vehicle may occur under the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1378 

 By Senator Martin 

 33-00629A-26 20261378__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to traffic enforcement; amending s. 
 3 316.194, F.S.; defining the term “abandoned vehicle”; 
 4 revising the circumstances under which law enforcement 
 5 officers and traffic accident investigation officers 
 6 may provide for the removal of an abandoned vehicle to 
 7 the nearest garage or place of safety; requiring that 
 8 a notice that contains certain information be placed 
 9 conspicuously on certain abandoned vehicles before 
 10 such removal; amending s. 320.261, F.S.; prohibiting a 
 11 person from operating a motor vehicle that the person 
 12 knows bears a registration license plate or validation 
 13 sticker that was not issued and assigned or lawfully 
 14 transferred to the motor vehicle; providing criminal 
 15 penalties; providing circumstances under which the 
 16 element of knowledge is satisfied; providing a 
 17 rebuttable presumption; amending s. 932.703, F.S.; 
 18 specifying that using a motor vehicle to flee or 
 19 attempt to elude a law enforcement officer is a 
 20 circumstance under which a seizure of the motor 
 21 vehicle may occur under the Florida Contraband 
 22 Forfeiture Act; providing an effective date. 
 23 
 24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 25 
 26 Section 1. Present subsections (1) through (4) of section 
 27 316.194, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (2) 
 28 through (5), respectively, a new subsection (1) is added to that 
 29 section, and paragraph (b) of present subsection (3) of that 
 30 section is amended, to read: 
 31 316.194 Stopping, standing or parking outside of 
 32 municipalities.— 
 33 (1) As used in this section, the term “abandoned vehicle” 
 34 means a vehicle that is in a state of disuse, neglect, or 
 35 abandonment. The term includes a vehicle without a license 
 36 plate, a vehicle with a license plate that is not registered to 
 37 the vehicle, a vehicle that does not have a registration sticker 
 38 affixed to the license plate, or a vehicle that has a 
 39 registration sticker affixed to the license plate which has been 
 40 expired for at least 90 days. Evidence of disuse, neglect, or 
 41 abandonment includes, but is not limited to, the vehicle being 
 42 wrecked and inoperative; the vehicle being inoperative as 
 43 evidenced by vegetation growing under the vehicle as high as the 
 44 vehicle body or frame; refuse or debris collected underneath the 
 45 vehicle; the vehicle being used solely for storage purposes; the 
 46 vehicle having major and visible parts that are dismantled; if 
 47 the vehicle is partially dismantled, the vehicle having no 
 48 engine, transmission, or other major and visible parts; the 
 49 vehicle being incapable of functioning as a vehicle in its 
 50 present state; the vehicle having only nominal salvage value; or 
 51 the vehicle being in any physical state rendering it 
 52 inoperative. If the primary apparent evidence of disuse, 
 53 neglect, or abandonment is vegetation growing under the vehicle, 
 54 an enforcement officer must use his or her training and 
 55 experience to determine whether, under the totality of the 
 56 circumstances, the vehicle is in a state of evident disuse, 
 57 neglect, or abandonment. 
 58 (4)(3) 
 59 (b) Officers and traffic accident investigation officers 
 60 may provide for the removal of any abandoned vehicle to the 
 61 nearest garage or other place of safety, cost of such removal to 
 62 be a lien against the motor vehicle, when an abandoned vehicle 
 63 is found unattended upon a bridge or causeway or in a any 
 64 tunnel, or on a any public highway in any of the following 
 65 instances: 
 66 1. Where the such vehicle constitutes an obstruction of 
 67 traffic or blocks visibility such that it is an egregious safety 
 68 hazard.; 
 69 2. Where the such vehicle is inoperative and has been 
 70 parked or stored on the public right-of-way for a period 
 71 exceeding 48 hours., in other than designated parking areas, and 
 72 is within 30 feet of the pavement edge; and 
 73 3. Where an operative vehicle has been parked or stored