Published on Saturday, September 2, 2006
in the Naples Daily News

Police will patrol SW Florida roads this weekend

Last year, 44 people died on Florida roads during a 96-hour period on Labor Day weekend.

As one of the typically deadliest highway weekends of the year approaches, local enforcement agencies say they're trying to keep everyone safe with increased patrols.

Labor Day weekend, traditionally one of the most dangerous on Florida roads, had a record number of fatalities last year. Authorities plan to flood local streets with patrols in an effort to avoid similar problems this year.

"We're suspending all office operations and getting everyone on the road," said Florida Highway Patrol Capt. Eddie Johnson.

Johnson said the FHP will have a handful of extra squads on the roads in Lee and Collier counties during the weekend. Their main objective will be to catch drunken drivers and people not wearing seatbelts, the two factors that lead to the most deaths on the road during a holiday.

Last year, 44 people died on Florida roads during a 96-hour period on Labor Day weekend. Twenty-three of those deaths were alcohol-related. The number of alcohol-related deaths was second only to Thanksgiving weekend in 2005.

"We see the statistics, and, really, it's kind of puzzling," Johnson said. "We're issuing more tickets and making more arrests than we've ever had, but our fatalities keep going up."

The FHP will not conduct any DUI checkpoints. They will instead concentrate on roving "wolfpack" patrols. DUI checkpoints will be done by other agencies.

Both the Lee County Sheriff's Office and the Fort Myers police department have checkpoints planned.

The two agencies will work together on two checkpoints during the long weekend, said Lt. Linda King, of the Sheriff's Office's traffic unit.

The increased patrols coincide with the national DUI campaign, "Over the Limit, Under Arrest," which began on Aug. 18 and runs though Monday. The Florida Sheriff's Task Force will monitor what type of results each county brings in, King said. Accidents and deaths also will be monitored.

Extra patrols aren't limited to the roads. Boaters can expect increased enforcement from the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies as well.

The Lee County Sheriff Office's Marine Unit will have all its deputies on patrol, said Sgt. James Erb. Deputies will heavily patrol the waters between Bonita Springs and Fort Myers Beach, he said.

Marine deputies mainly will look for speeders and careless boating. They'll also work with the Lee County Marine Law Enforcement Task Force. The six-agency task force, which includes the Coast Guard, will look out for impaired boaters, Erb said.

As on the road, Erb said, his department expects to see the most impaired boaters late in the day, and on Monday.

"It's the last day people have off, and I guess they like to hang out a little longer," Erb said.