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🎓 Niceville High student Carys Hansen crafted a bill calling for stricter license retesting for elderly drivers during Florida Girls State.
🕊 The proposal was inspired by the 2018 death of 12-year-old Abram Sticer, who was struck by a 92-year-old driver in Bluewater Bay.
🏛 The symbolic bill passed unanimously in the mock legislature and has earned praise and emotional support from Abram’s family.
BLUEWATER BAY — A high school student’s mock legislative bill, inspired by the tragic death of a 12-year-old boy, is gaining real-world attention — and heartfelt support from the boy’s family as it heads to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
During a recent session of Florida Girls State, a government-in-training camp sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, rising senior Carys Hansen introduced and successfully defended a bill that would increase the frequency of driver’s license retesting for senior citizens.
Hansen, who turns 17 on July 15, is a standout student and active leader at Niceville High School. She’s a member of the National Honor Society and was recently named drum major of the Eagle Pride Marching Band.
A talented musician, Hansen has been selected for Florida’s All-State band three times for clarinet, and also plays tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, and piano. She hopes to study political science in college and eventually go to law school, with Georgetown University at the top of her list.
The legislation, though symbolic at first, resonated deeply with Kevin and Amanda Sticer, whose son Abram was killed six years ago by an elderly driver.
On a Sunday morning six years earlier, Abram Sticer was riding his bicycle near his home in Niceville when he was struck and killed by a Toyota Highlander driven by 92-year-old Kiyoko Blystone.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the SUV was exiting a roundabout at Bluewater Boulevard and Southwind Drive around 11:30 a.m. when it hit Abram, who became trapped underneath the vehicle and was dragged for several feet.
He was transported to Twin Cities Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was not wearing a helmet at the time.
“It’s always a little over six years now, and it is a struggle. Some days are better than others, but it’s every day he’s not here,” Kevin Sticer said.
Florida law currently requires drivers 80 and older to pass a vision test with each license renewal every six years. Hansen’s proposed bill would tighten those rules, requiring license retesting every two years after age 70 and annually after age 90.
“So I kind of made it more strict,” Hansen explained. “So I made it when after the age of 70, so I lowered it to 70. And then after the age of 70, when you hit 80, it goes to two years. And then when you pass 90, it goes to every year you retake it, so it can just catch it a little bit quicker.”
Although not yet a formal piece of legislation, Hansen’s bill struck a chord with participants and organizers alike. Her proposal passed multiple rounds of scrutiny during the weeklong camp, culminating in unanimous approval in the mock House and Senate.
“I defended it to about 20 girls, and they passed it through with amendments,” Hansen recalled. “And then I went to the Senate and I defended it in front of about 50 girls with questions and other amendments. And then it went on to the House, and that was about 120 girls, so I had to defend it each time. And every single person I defended, they were really excited about the bill.”
Melanie Hansen, Carys’ mother, provided context about the experience, noting the intense preparation required of each delegate.
“They go and spend eight days, and it’s basically a mock government,” she said. “They all have to show up with a bill, ready to defend the bill in the mock Senate and Congress. So the ones that are selected go on to the governor.
The Sticers only found out about the bill days before the camp concluded.
“We didn’t know this young lady did this on her own,” Kevin said. “Last Thursday, we got a text that this had happened through another family friend … So that day was just so amazing for us, not a dry eye in the house, just to know that this young lady sitting right there had thought about our son even six years later.”
Amanda Sticer was similarly moved.
“It was very heartwarming just to know that she would choose something of that nature, just in and of itself,” she said. “Abram would have graduated last year from Niceville High School, and so we were. We did have a moment at graduation that took us back, that even one of his classmates, you know, would have remembered him that far out.”
Both parents hope the symbolic effort becomes real change.
“One of the answers we were given by Florida Highway Patrol’s whole chain of command … was, there’s nothing we can do for your son. All we can say is, you need to get the laws changed for the next person,” Amanda said. “So this is huge, just in an attempt to do so, so that this doesn’t become somebody else’s story, because it’s hard.”
As for what they’d say to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is currently reviewing bills passed during the recent legislative session, Hansen was clear.
“So what I would say is I hope that he really considers how this will affect people and how many lives it will save in the future,” she said. “And I just, I want him to know that it will help a lot of people in the future.”
Kevin Sticer echoed her optimism.
“She may have influenced one person to be able to step up and go to their grandparents and say, it’s time to take your keys away or something like that. That’s a win in our books,” he said. “If it can just help one person, one family, not go through the stuff that we’ve had to go through.”
Pro Communi Bono
