Broward mourns retired special education teacher killed in hit-and-run crash

Fort Lauderdale police arrested 22-year-old Don Janea Smith about four hours after a hit-and-run crash that killed Shelley Lewis on the 2000 block of Southeast 17th Street, a stretch of the 17th Street Bridge that links commuters, cyclists and beach traffic. Lewis, 68, was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where she died.

She spent years teaching special education in Broward County, including work with children with autism, and served as head of special education at Mirror Lake Elementary School in Plantation after previously working at Sawgrass Elementary School in Sunrise. She regularly rode her bicycle, tended her garden near her apartment on Davie Boulevard and stayed active well into retirement.

Lewis was riding eastbound in the bicycle lane when a dark-colored vehicle struck her at about 6:40 a.m. Thursday, June 26. She often rode over the bridge to the beach and wore a helmet. The bike lane was occupied at the time of the crash.

Smith left the scene, later returned to remove items from the vehicle and then left in an Uber. The car was found about 2.5 miles from the crash scene. Smith is charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death and tampering with physical evidence. She was being held on $100,000 bond, and a judge ordered her not to drive, to surrender her passport, to remain in Broward County unless permitted to leave and to wear a GPS monitor if she posts bond.

Florida law requires a driver overtaking a bicycle in the same lane to pass at a safe distance of at least 3 feet, and Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles allows bicyclists to take the full lane in some safety situations, including narrow lanes or when avoiding hazards. Broward County’s Bicycling and Pedestrian Advisory Committee reviews road projects for possible bike and pedestrian facilities and tracks crash trends using Signal Four Analytics data.