Published on Friday, January 5, 2007
in the Osceola News Gazette

Traffic fatalities dropped in 2006

Preliminary Osceola County 2006 traffic fatality reports released Tuesday showed a drop in deaths from last year, a likely combination of more available patrols and Florida’s Turnpike guardrails curbing crossover crashes, authorities said.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 65 people were killed in Osceola crashes last year compared to 69 in 2005. The 2006 statistics were still preliminary as official numbers wouldn’t be available until July, patrol officials said. But for troopers, it was so far, so good.

“Even though we’d like to see it lower, we’re thrilled that we’re under the numbers from last year,” said Trooper Kim Miller, agency spokeswoman. “We know there’s been growth in Osceola. Those numbers should be up.”

There were several contributions to the decrease, Miller said.

First, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff Bob Hansell ordered deputies in July to begin working minor crashes again – a practice halted under the former sheriff’s administration.

“I really think it’s been a group effort,” Miller said.

The additional county service freed troopers from having to respond to the crashes, allowing them more time to patrol.

“Sheriff Hansell knew it would be a benefit to the citizens of Osceola County,” said Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain.

Hansell revived the effort to spare crash victims a long waiting period on the side of the road. Previously, the highway patrol worked all crashes in the Sheriff’s Office coverage area. And with only six troopers assigned to Osceola County, the wait was sometimes painstaking, authorities said.

There also were safety concerns as secondary crashes can occur when passing motorists rubberneck and fail to pay attention to the road, authorities said.

Secondly, there was the installation of turnpike guard-rails, said Miller.

In May 2005, the Florida Department of Transportation completed a $19 million guardrail project on the turnpike, erecting a 54-mile barrier stretch in the grassy median inside Osceola County from mile markers 193 to 249.

The project’s main goal was to reduce the deadly crossover crashes that had drawn so much media attention in recent years. In a five-week span in 2004, for example, seven people were killed in Osceola County turnpike crashes when drivers lost control of their vehicles for differing reasons and crossed over the bare median and into oncoming traffic.

“They have had a positive, significant effect in that (Osceola) area,” said Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise spokeswoman Christa Deason. “It’s doing what it was designed to do.”

Of the 13 turnpike deaths in 2006, none were due to crossover crashes, Miller said.

And finally, troopers were deployed to the Gulf Coast in 2005 to assist with law enforcement after Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. But the 2006 hurricane season sent no severe storms to the Florida or Gulf Coast area, allowing troopers to stay local, Miller said.

“That might have helped that we had more people,” she said.

The 2006 numbers represent a continuing decrease. In 2004, 74 people were killed.

“Hopefully, we’ll see the numbers go down even more next year,” Miller said.