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Published on Sunday, May 7, 2006
in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
No more troopers
Columnist: Michael Turnbell
Another year, another legislative session goes by.
And the Florida Highway Patrol apparently walks away without any additional money to hire more troopers to curb the lawlessness that many of you say has seized Interstate 95.
The state's population and traffic congestion have increased dramatically in the last 15 years but highway patrol staffing hasn't kept up the pace.
About 1,600 troopers currently patrol some 11,000 miles of state highways.
Edythe Caldwell of Delray Beach said she's lived in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, Georgia and Washington and never has seen anything like the drivers in Florida -- or the lack of traffic enforcement.
"Does the governor realize what is going on in this state?" Caldwell said.
"The only time I have ever seen a police car in the six months that I have been living here is at an accident. It seems to me the drivers out here are only aware of one thing pertaining to driving. It is not necessary to follow traffic laws such as speeding, passing, signaling, stop signs or for that matter any signs."
Emergency vehicles
Next time you fill up at the gas pump or stop at a convenience store, you might see a sticker showing three people among the thousands of rescue workers who risk their lives helping motorists along Florida's roads.
The Highway Patrol is kicking off a campaign to remind us of an almost four-year-old law that requires drivers to change lanes and slow down when passing emergency vehicles when their lights are flashing.
Between July 2002 and December 2005, troopers issued 13,950 citations to drivers for not abiding by the so-called Move Over Act.
The Alexandria, Va.-based International Association of Chiefs of Police tracked officers' deaths nationwide from 1995 through 2004 and found that, since 1998, officers were more likely to die an accidental death than at the hands of a felon.
The top cause of accidental death was being struck by another vehicle, with 120 officers killed.
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