Published on Sunday, March 12, 2006
in the Fernandina Beach News Leader

State cracks down on bad drivers

Several state agencies banded together last week to unveil "Stay Alive...Just Drive," a public safety campaign aimed at making the roads safer, said Lt. Bill Leeper of the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Transportation have collaborated on the project, said Leeper.

"Stay Alive... Just Drive" is the sixth phase of "Operation Safe Ride," a long-term FHP enforcement campaign that focuses on varying traffic themes in response to statewide needs. The operation's goals are to increase compliance with speed limits and to reduce deaths and injuries in Florida, Leeper said.

As the population increases, so does the number of drivers and vehicles, and the number of traffic fatalities.

Preliminary numbers released March 2 show that 3,515 people died on Florida's roads in 2005. This is an increase of almost eight percent over the 2004 fatality report of 3,257.

Leeper said law enforcement agencies are alarmed and frustrated by the increase.

Statewide figures of crashes resulting in fatalities from January to the present are the highest ever, prompting the latest public safety campaign, Leeper said.

Factors that contribute to traffic crashes are mostly behavioral, including speeding, said Leeper.

"When you look at contributing causes of crashes, usually something is under the driver's control that contributed to the crash such as eating, drinking, not wearing the seatbelt, not paying attention, being distracted, or driving while tired, causing the driver to fall asleep at the wheel. These are all things that drivers can control. If everybody controlled the way they drove, there would be less crashes and less fatalities," said Leeper.

He said it is imperative that motorists take driving seriously, develop self-initiated strategies that will help them drive less aggressively, learn to share the road and remember that an attentive driver can avoid a crash.

"You might not be able to control the way someone else drives, but you can control how you drive, and if we all did that, it would be a lot safer," Leeper said.

"Operation Safe Ride" was first initiated Feb. 26-27, 2004, in response to a growing concern over the frequency of aggressive driving violations throughout Florida.

Speeders are tracked using radar, video cameras, motorcycles and unmarked patrol vehicles. Troopers in FHP aircraft also spot violators from the air and direct troopers on the ground to pull them over.

In addition, Leeper reminds motorists to observe the "Move Over" law when approaching a parked emergency vehicle using its signals or a wrecker with rotating or flashing lights on the side of the road.