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Published on Friday, January 7, 2005
in the Palm Beach Post
It may be difficult for most commuters to fathom, but there is a good side to the rampant road construction in Palm Beach County.
A Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Thursday cited the highway work, particularly on Interstate 95, as one of the factors that led to a 14 percent drop in traffic fatalities in 2004.
Wrecks killed 191 people last year, down from a record 222 deaths in 2003. The number for 2004 could rise if people die of injuries suffered in crashes.
The narrow lanes and rows of barricades in construction zones force most drivers to slow down, FHP Lt. Tim Frith said. There are more crashes in work areas but they are less severe, he said.
"People are starting to get the message to slow down," said state Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, a traffic safety advocate. "The message has to be driven into their heads over and over again."
Last year, the FHP started a campaign called Operation Safe Ride to target aggressive drivers on major highways. Using unmarked high-performance Mercury Marauders and Ford Mustangs, troopers nabbed more than 130 aggressive drivers in the county during the first wave in February.
Last month's holiday detail, Staying Alive on 95, included police officers from 16 city and county agencies from Miami-Dade to St. Lucie counties. Nearly 1,500 drivers were ticketed in the five-county area. Statewide, about 4,000 received traffic citations.
Slosberg said he wants to expand the campaign to monthly details. As a member of the House Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations Committee, he will have a say in how the money is spent.
"The campaign is great, bringing public awareness to the issue," the FHP's Frith said. "We'd like to have this kind of enforcement all the time."
In an effort to continue the decline in traffic deaths, the Florida Highway Patrol again will make a pitch to the legislature to increase personnel, and Slosberg will continue his fight for a tougher seat-belt law.
"We're going to protect Florida and its guests, one way or another," Slosberg said. "Traffic laws are not suggestions, they're mandatory."