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Published on Tuesday, September 3, 2002
in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
Florida Highway Patrol troopers issued nearly 400 speeding citations this Labor Day weekend, proving the H.E.A.T. truly was on during the agency's special enforcement effort dedicated to making the holiday weekend safe.
Operation Labor Day H.E.A.T. (Holiday Enforcement Action Team) targeted speeders, drunk or aggressive drivers as well as motorists not wearing their seatbelts or restraining their children properly.
There were no fatalities on Interstate 95 in Palm Beach, Broward, Martin and St. Lucie counties as of late Monday night, though four people were killed on other roads in Palm Beach and Broward counties.
"I think the overall operation was a success," said Lt. Pembrook Burrows of the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers issued 389 speeding citations, 52 seatbelt citations and 5 citations for not restraining children properly, Burrows said. They also made six DUI arrests and charged nine people with reckless driving, along with issuing 87 other various citations.
"I think it's unusually high," Burrows said. "You'll have that when you have that type of enforcement squad ... with the common goal of saving lives."
An additional 25 members of a special enforcement team and several auxiliary troopers were on-duty this weekend. They focused on Interstate 95 in Broward and Palm Beach counties, but also patrolled Alligator Alley and did equipment checks on Military Trail just outside West Palm Beach.
Three people were killed in two crashes Saturday in Broward County, one on Interstate 595 and one on an access road off Alligator Alley that killed two people. Troopers also were investigating the death of a 1-year-old Belle Glade child Friday near State Road 80.
On Palm Beach County's waterways, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers made at least one arrest for boating under the influence. They also are investigating a fatal boating crash that left a 32-year-old man dead.
Douglas Caramagna was killed Saturday night when the boat he was in was hit by another vessel near the docks at Bert Winters Park in Juno Beach.