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Published on Monday, March 10, 2003
in the Pensacola News Journal
Law enforcement agencies target speeders, impaired drivers
Hoping to stem a rising tide of traffic fatalities, law enforcement agencies are putting the crosshairs on speeders, impaired drivers and aggressive driving.
That increased focus often means law enforcement agencies are combining efforts to target traffic hot spots on congested roadways such as Interstate 110, U.S. 90 and U.S. 98.
Strike Force 98 has staged five concentrated enforcement efforts that include traffic checkpoints, roving "wolfpacks" looking for impaired drivers and radar-bearing officers lurking in medians throughout Northwest Florida.
Before drivers get behind the wheel, they might consider these numbers:
Florida Highway Patrol and Escambia County Sheriff's Office combined issued more than 16,000 speeding citations last year, increasing enforcement by 53 percent and 63 percent respectively over 2001.
Escambia County DUI arrests jumped 84 percent from 2001 to 2002, and Pensacola police and Santa Rosa deputies showed arrest spikes of 15 percent and 13 percent.
Slowing traffic on U.S. 98 in south Santa Rosa County remains a primary objective.
Four lanes of it stretch for nearly 20 miles between Gulf Breeze and Navarre high schools. Tractor trailers, school buses, tourists and commuters share a highway-speed thoroughfare laced with subdivisions, school zones and strip malls.
Now retired from the Air Force, Joe Denmon said the commute to Hurlburt Field from Pensacola used to be relaxing.
"No more," he said. "You need to be alert and be on top your game when you're on 98. Sometimes you have to jump on (the gas) just to get out of someone's way."
Racing teens have grabbed headlines with a recent fatal crash, but Leslie Yarborough sees everyday commuters transformed into aggressive drivers.
The woman who she said swerved in front of her and cut her off recently wasn't a teen.
"She was a soccer mom in this massive SUV with a baby seat in the back," said Yarborough, 34. "It's crazy. There will be a truck flashing its lights or trying to force itself in between cars where there's no place else to go. It's pretty much bumper to bumper, stoplight to stoplight. People are balking at the speed limits, but there are definitely plenty of cops out there to keep them down."
Santa Rosa Sheriff's Sgt. Todd Bobe said U.S. 98 and U.S. 90 are hot spots the unit plans to patrol regularly.
"There is more traffic, more people in the area and more people seem to be in a hurry," he said. "Our job is to go out there and try to make it safer for everyone."
Mounting fatalities
Strike Force 98 was launched six months ago after the number of fatalities spiked on U.S. 98. Six people in Santa Rosa County died on the highway in 2002, including Meagan Napier and Lisa Dickson, both 20 and Gulf Breeze High graduates, killed in May. A Jeep driven by Eric Smallridge was racing another vehicle and swerved into their car, and their car spun and hit a tree in the median, troopers said.
Smallridge is scheduled to go on trial in March for vehicular homicide and driving under the influence charges.
Now, 39 agencies involved hope to conduct one Strike Force a month on all major roadways in Northwest Florida, said Lt. Tommy Moore, spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol.
The show of force leaves lasting impressions.
"I believe our presence helped, in that we saw numbers decline afterward. The fatalities could have been much worse," Moore said. "This is a prevention issue. There is so much traffic out there, and we can't do that every day. We hope that people have gotten the message that Strike Force is out there. The rest is up to them."
Speeding and alcohol
But the temptation to push the limits still is too common.
Raymond Acosta, 18, died after a Feb. 12 crash on U.S. 98 near Whispering Pines Boulevard after troopers said he was racing another car and lost control when he swerved to avoid a dump truck.
Alcohol is another factor. In Santa Rosa County last year, 52 percent of 23 traffic fatalities were alcohol-related, compared with 44 percent of Escambia's 46 highway deaths, statistics from the Florida Highway Patrol show.
"We're increasing efforts with enforcement and with educating the the public," said Mark Buckley, DUI supervisor for Escambia County Sheriff's Office. "We're looking to save lives. The main thrust of the program is to see the number of DUI-related deaths decrease."