MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A local widow is on a crusade to remind drivers about Florida's "Move Over Law”, where you move over a lane for stopped law enforcement or other service vehicles displaying their warning lights.
"You made me a widow at the age of 47," Susan Adkins said in a Martin County courtroom Wednesday.
Adkins had been waiting to say this for nearly a year.
"For you not to be charged with anything more than careless driving, it's a serious injustice. And unfortunately you are the luckiest, sorriest excuse for a human being alive," Adkins said.
On June 28, 2021, Scott Adkins was driving south on Interstate 95. He was a road ranger, it was dark, just before 10 p.m., and he was responding to a traffic crash, attempting to block off the inside lane.
That’s when a car came barreling into the area, did not brake, and struck Adkins’ vehicle as he was removing his traffic cones.
Adkins spent 28 days in the hospital before succumbing to his injuries.
"Too may bones were broken. I can hear the sound of the ventilator humming," daughter Danielle Adkins said in court Wednesday.
Adkins' fellow road rangers came to court Wednesday to support the family.
"Scott was an incredible road ranger. He would have been the last guy I would have expected to see this happen," said retired road ranger Tom Bailey.
The other driver, 24 year-old Damir Fayzulaev from West Palm Beach, was not impaired according to investigators. He was given a careless driving citation, fined, and surrendered his license for six months.
"I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies to everyone here," Fayzulaev said in court Wednesday.
The judge also ordered him to see if an area trauma center would take him on as a volunteer.
"I mean, the law definitely has to be changed. It's too lenient," Susan Adkins said.
WPTV spoke with a Florida Highway Patrol lieutenant who said a reckless driving charge, a misdemeanor, would only come into play if there were at least two moving violations.
Troopers are also constantly reminding motorists about the importance of the move over law.
Now Susan Adkins, with a constant reminder on her forearm and Scott's ashes close to her heart, is going to make it her mission to spread the word, not just for her husband, but also for his colleagues and other first responders who pull over to help and rely on other drivers to stay safe.
"Get more information out there on people need to move over for safety vehicles and stuff so somebody else doesn’t lose their husband," Adkins said.
