Nocatee, Florida — A Florida law that took effect July 1 adds repeat convictions for driving without a valid license to the list of offenses that can trigger a habitual traffic offender designation, allowing subsequent driving charges to be prosecuted as third-degree felonies.
House Bill 35, named "Isaiah's Law" for 18-year-old motorcyclist Isaiah Raposa of Hillsborough County, who was killed in a December 2024 hit-and-run, designates a driver as a habitual traffic offender after three or more convictions within five years. Previously, the qualifying offenses were limited to failing to stop and render aid after a crash causing injury or death and driving with a disqualified commercial license.
The bill's sponsor, Representative Webster Barnaby of Deltona, said the driver in the fatal crash that killed Isaiah had six prior citations for driving without a license. "If your license is suspended, revoked, or otherwise invalid, don't get behind the wheel," the Cocoa Police Department said in describing the new law.
Nocatee, in St. Johns County just south of Jacksonville, sits along the I-95 corridor where the Florida Highway Patrol and St. Johns County Sheriff's Office enforce traffic laws. State troopers based in the region will apply the new habitual traffic offender designation to repeat unlicensed drivers under the statute that took effect July 1.
A habitual traffic offender designation carries mandatory license revocation in Florida, and supporters of the bill said repeat unlicensed drivers pose a public safety risk warranting the same scrutiny as other repeat offenders. The measure passed the Florida Legislature during the 2026 session.
