Published on Thursday, November 3, 2005
in the Orlando Sentinel

October a perilous month on Polk roads

October has proven to be a dangerous month for Polk County drivers.

Preliminary figures show 15 people died in accidents in Polk last month -- more than double the number killed in crashes during October 2004, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Meanwhile the number of overall crashes has historically increased during the month.

For example from September to October 2004 the number of accidents increased by about 2,700. And there were about 1,000 more crashes in October 2003 than in the previous month.

The most recent October victim was one-week-old Dayja Owens, who was killed Monday when the Port St. Lucie driver of the car she was in lost control on State Road 60 east of Lake Wales.

Just days before, a man and woman were walking on U.S. Highway 17 near Bartow when they were struck and killed by a vehicle.

No single reason accounts for the October spike in crashes but some officials say Florida's population increase each fall and winter may have something to do with it.

When seasonal residents start moving into the state in October, there are more cars on Florida's roads.

"When there's more traffic, there's bound to be more vehicle crashes," said FHP Trooper Larry Coggins.

Gregg Laskoski, spokesman of AAA Auto Club South, agreed an increase in cars on the road could be a contributing factor.

Other factors may include road construction and unfamiliarity with local roads.

Coggins and Laskoski said driver inattentiveness is a big problem.

"We want to try to cut down on distracted drivers," Laskoski said.

Coggins said drivers need to be cautious in future months as more people move into the area and additional cars are on the road.

"The main thing is that our residents and our visitors need to realize they are in an extremely populated part of Florida," Coggins said.