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Published on Monday, May 10, 2004
in the Pt. Charlotte Sun Herald
On a still Florida morning Jan. 26, Augustus V. Pratt lost his life on Midway Boulevard. The sun shone brightly through the scattered clouds, and folks walked their dogs on the sidewalks. Along the shoulder of the boulevard, Pratt's white car lay a tangled mess.
He was the second person to die this year in a car wreck on a road in the county. He wasn't the last.
Pratt, 83, from Inkster, Mich., was in Charlotte County vacationing for the winter. Moments before the crash, Angela Maria Cannizzaro's car was traveling down the boulevard at a very high rate of speed, according to investigators. She swerved the car back into the eastbound lane, partially onto the south shoulder of the road, and lost control.
Pratt's car smashed into the her car. His breathing and heartbeat stopped at the scene, and he was taken to Fawcett Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Cannizzaro faced charges of DUI manslaughter.
So far this year, 16 people have died in car wrecks in Charlotte County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Experts and local officials see population increases and driver's carelessness as probable causes.
Last year at this time, five had died. The year topped out with 19 deaths.
Lt. Doug Dodson from the Florida Highway Patrol called the number "abnormal," and said he hopes it would slow down, or in an ideal case, stop. He said it's quite possible the FHP could slow the numbers down.
"With more than half of these crashes, people were not wearing seat belts. A lot of people are so concerned about getting from point A to Z, they forget about what's in the middle. That's where all these accidents are happening: in the in-between," he said.
"You don't know what's going to happen the rest of the year. It's not going to be so high that it can't be adjusted. When you're driving or operating a motor vehicle, you have to make sure you have seat belts on for yourself and kids. Chances or severity will be lessened. And if you have air bags, too, your survivability will be a lot better."
In 2003, Charlotte, Sarasota and DeSoto counties each saw decreases in traffic deaths.
Charlotte County had a decrease of 17 percent from the 24 deaths in 2002.
Sarasota County had 40 fatalities in 2003, and 41 in 2002 -- a 2.5 percent decrease.
DeSoto County saw 10 fatalities in 2003, and 13 fatalities in 2002 -- a 23 percent decrease, according to the FHP.
During the last six years, Charlotte County had a low of 18 traffic deaths in 1998 to a high of 39 in 2000.
So, what's the problem?
Sgt. Conner Cardwell, a traffic investigator with the FHP, chalks it up to one probable issue: population increase.
And the wrecks come in all forms from rear-end collisions to single car rollovers, he said.
"Each year it seems to get larger," Cardwell said. "And we're short troopers. We can't do as much pro-active enforcement as we'd like to do."
Meanwhile, Dodson thinks the two main causes of traffic fatalities are alcohol and not using the necessary safety precautions.
"A lot of people won't wear a seat belt. They don't wear seat belt, they get involved in accident, the air bag deploys, and it hurts them worse," he said.
"Also, if alcohol usage is up, we see traffic fatalities go up. If we can deter the driver, it helps lower the fatality rate."
Locally, Sheriff William Cameron started to enhance traffic control in May. He added two motorcycles that will focus on monitoring traffic on U.S. 41 and State Road 776. His beefed-up patrols stem from the increase in crashes, he said.
"We've had some big crashes there lately," he said.
"We've also asked for driver's cooperation and to observe the traffic laws. We ask them to pay special attention to stop lights and stop signs. Intersection crashes usually have the worst injuries. People try to push that yellow light just too far."
Similar DUI checkpoints regularly take place in Sarasota and Desoto counties. A roving checkpoint Friday night in Venice nabbed seven drunken drivers.
Desoto deputies regularly get a half-dozen drunken drivers each weekend.
Cameron also pointed his finger at the influx of people coming to the area for the increased wrecks.
"There's so many variables. We also ask that when people are driving, that they don't be doing anything else," he added.
According to reports in Charlotte County, there were 203 alcohol-related crashes in 2001 which injured 180 and killed seven. In 2002, four people were killed in Charlotte County due to alcohol-related wrecks. Sheriff's Office has been trying to combat DUIs and alcohol-related wrecks by conducting random DUI checkpoints at various locations around the county. There have been four so far this year, with a fifth scheduled for sometime in May.
Yoli Buss, director of traffic safety AAA Auto Club South, in Tampa, said crashes this year state-wide have been "horrendous" -- especially with teen drivers. She also said with the population increase, the roads are crowded now throughout the day and there's "never a time when there's no one on the road."
Buss said lots of teens are starting to celebrate graduations early. And that means trips to the beach and more time on the roads.
"With the young teens, it's them not being ready, especially with kids in the car. They were distracted by it," she said.
"And, more and more people are moving to Florida so more people are out there."
Buss said her organization hands out brochures to educate people and try to make them aware of what's going on. She said in all of the instances of wrecks, if people wore their seat belts, they'd be alive. She said the chances of surviving double when you wear your seat belt.
Some other hints she gave: don't speed; don't tailgate; and stay 11 inches away from steering column, and keep hands lower on the steering wheel so if the air bag deploys, you don't break your wrists.
"Just education is probably the most important thing we can all do. We have to let the public know what the statistics are," she said.