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Published on Thursday, December 2, 2004
in the Osceola News Gazette
Traffic fatalities in Central Florida tripled during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday compared to the same time last year.
Nine people were killed in eight traffic crashes between Thursday and Sunday on area roads, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.
Only three people were killed during the same period in 2003.
"There is just so many people on the road and others who are disregarding the basic safety rules," said Trooper Kim Miller, agency spokeswoman.
More than half of the fatalities in Central Florida were alcohol-related, Miller said.
There were no reports of any traffic fatalities in Osceola County, which remained constant from last year. There were two deaths reported in 2002.
A preliminary total of 37 fatalities was reported state-wide, which was a decrease from the 48 people killed last year.
"It would be nice not to have any (deaths) over the holiday," Miller said. "Then, we wouldn't have to go knock on somebody's door."
Six Central Florida counties are covered under the highway patrol's troop D including Orange, Osceola, Volusia, Brevard, Seminole and Lake.
Troopers responded to more than 206 crashes during the 120-hour period, authorities said. And they wrote 1,004 speeding tickets and 69 citations for seat belt law violations.
Troopers also made 29 drunken driving arrests.
During the holiday period, the highway patrol suspended all office operations for all sworn personnel normally assigned to administrative duties and reassigned them to the road.
More than two million motorists were expected to drive throughout Florida over the four-day holiday weekend as AAA estimated that 37.2 million Americans nationwide would take a trip 50 miles or more from home representing an increase of 3.1 percent from last year.