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Years later, widow still on a crusade

Since 2001, she has fought to require auto shops to carry liability insurance.

By DAVID DeCAMP
Published February 18, 2007

Years have passed and the distance has grown, but Marie Castillo Collado wants vindication.

It will not come to her in an arrest, or in a court victory. She gave up those hopes. The chances seem even dimmer this spring, worse than last year's failure or the year before.

But she has no choice: She promised her children she would not set aside the reason their father died.

"We've been through it, and we kind of expect the fight. But we never give up," Marie, 40, said by phone from her St. Louis home.

* * *

On Memorial Day weekend in 2001, Abelardo Castillo of Spring Hill was driving on U.S. 19 near the Pasco-Hernando county line. He had gotten his car back from a one-man repair shop, Constant Perfection of Port Richey.

Suddenly, the left rear wheel fell off his car, causing it to cross into oncoming traffic and collide with a sport utility vehicle, police reported. Castillo was thrown from his car to his death.

She said she was left broke after he died. Her brother-in-law had to pay for Castillo's funeral.

She blamed the repair shop, although the owner has said he fully tightened the wheel bolts. But the shop had no assets and no liability insurance.

Marie found her cause.

In 2005, she convinced state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, and state Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, to sponsor a bill requiring auto repair shops to carry liability insurance.

It failed in the House the past two years, despite Senate approval and a weakening in coverage requirement from $1-million to $300,000.

Both years it has died in House committees. The chairman of the governmental operations committee in 2006, Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, did not return a message Friday to discuss the reasons.

Fasano said some lawmakers resist government intruding into businesses. A similar requirement was repealed in 1994 after one year.

A Senate analysis last year predicted the law would affect more than 22,000 repair shops and thousands more auto dealerships. Buying liability insurance was estimated to cost $3,000 a year for a business doing $500,000 in work.

This year, Fasano filed the bill again, saying he hoped the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist would be more favorable to consumer issues. But he has yet to find a House sponsor.

"I don't want to get our hopes up," he said.

Glorioso apparently has not. He did not return a message, but his aide said he decided not to sponsor the bill this year so he could introduce other legislation instead. House rules limit each member to sponsoring only six bills.

Without a House sponsor, the bill has a less of a chance unless it gets tacked onto other legislation.

"I think he's getting just as frustrated," said Marie, who has somewhat moved on, too.

* * *

Marie remarried, wedding longtime friend John Collado - a mechanic no less.

They moved to St. Louis. She found work as a dog obedience trainer. She helps care for her grandchildren.

In some ways, many things have changed. Except her zeal for the bill that arose from her husband's death.

She promises to go to the state Capitol as soon as she is asked. She e-mails leading lawmakers like House Speaker Marco Rubio to seek support.

"Please don't let my husband's death be for nothing."

David DeCamp can be reached at 727 869-6232 or ddecamp@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 18, 2007, 07:23:17]