Published on Monday, January 29, 2007
in the Melbourne Florida Today

Roadway deaths rise, with most preventable

Speed, alcohol and bad decisions continue to take a tragic toll on Brevard County roadways, costing 100 people their lives in 93 traffic accidents last year, law enforcement records from 2006 show.

That's 6 percent more people than 2005 and 25 percent more than the year before that.

The death rate doesn't appear to be abating. Less than a month into 2007, some 10 people have died on Brevard roadways, including three teens involved in a motorcycle accident after a birthday party.

Last year's death toll included a pair of teens coming home from an open house party where booze was served to minors. The toll also included pedestrians impaired by alcohol walking into traffic, tired truckers not wearing their seat belts and helmetless motorcyclists speeding on city streets.

Many, if not most, of those fatal mistakes could have been avoided had the victims obeyed the speed limit, worn seat belts or helmets and not been under the influence, officers said.

"It's a choice you make," Lt. Patrick O'Neill of the Florida Highway Patrol said. "If you make the wrong one you're going to die."

Alcohol is a killer

As in years past, alcohol was the biggest killer on the road in 2006, according to a FLORIDA TODAY analysis of FHP and local police accident reports. Alcohol or drug impairment was a factor in 40 percent of last year's fatalities. That's the highest it's been in years. In 2005, alcohol was a factor in 33 percent of all fatalities.

According to county medical examiner records, at least nine drunken pedestrians wandered into traffic, at least two drunken drivers hit and killed pedestrians, and at least two other people drove themselves into a pond or lake and drowned with more than the legal limit of alcohol in their blood. At least two people combined drinking with driving ATVs to deadly effect.

Alcohol claimed the lives of at least two teenagers last year in a rollover accident. Driver Morgan Gordon, 16, and passenger Chelsea Beck, 17, were on their way home from an open house party in Port St. John, where they'd both been drinking heavily enough to have nearly three times the legal alcohol limit for adults in their blood.

Titusville officials want state lawmakers to enact stricter penalties for those caught serving alcohol to minors.

"It's sad to see that people aren't getting the message," said Kristen Allen, the state victims services manager for Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Florida.

MADD's mission is to eradicate drunken driving, especially among teenagers, she said.

"Drunk driving is a violent and not victimless crime," she said.

Allen added that she's frustrated that drunken driving continues to be a big problem in Florida, despite all the enforcement and education programs.

Legislation calling for tougher penalties is crucial, she said. One thing MADD wants, she said, is a law requiring ignition interlock systems for first-time DUI offenders.

Three of the six fatalities in Titusville were alcohol-related, Lt. Todd Hutchinson said.

"We saw alcohol being the fuel, the common denominator," he said.

Titusville has assigned a full-time DUI enforcement officer to help reduce drunken driving, he added. There were 143 DUI arrests in 2006, a 36 percent increase.

"That's the highest we ever had," Hutchinson said.

The city has also stepped up alcohol compliance tests -- several times a month for the past six months.

"We're doing everything we can," he said.

Lifesaver ignored

Motorcycle deaths were on the rise, 20 last year compared with 14 in 2005. Speed combined with drinking and motorcycles proved deadly. Of the 20 motorcycle deaths, nine involved alcohol and seven involved speeding.

Location also may have played a role in all vehicle accidents. While Interstate 95 and U.S. 1 claimed the most lives, other major arteries, such as Palm Bay Road, Babcock Street, State Road 520 and State Road 405 proved deadly too, according to a map of locations by FLORIDA TODAY.

Many of those traffic victims would be alive if they had worn seat belts, troopers said.

Sixty percent of all people who died on state roads last year weren't wearing seat belts, O'Neill said. Victims in nine of the 10 fatalities he investigated on I-95 last year, where seat belts were applicable, were not wearing the belts, he said.

"Seat belts are the one common denominator," O'Neill said.

For instance, Joseph Desimone was driving a tanker truck with 8,800 gallons of fuel when it rolled over on I-95 south of Micco Road last March. Desimone was ejected from the truck cab and died. The truck was barely scratched.

Investigators discovered that he'd buckled the seat belt and sat on it.

A bill going through the Legislature would allow police to pull over anyone not wearing a seat belt. The bill was passed unanimously last week by the state House of Representatives.

Troopers and other law enforcement officers say changing the law could save hundreds of lives a year.

Don't be in a hurry

While fatal wrecks increased across Brevard, fewer occurred on I-95, the lowest number in four years, FHP Sgt. Channing Taylor said. FHP reported 14 percent fewer crashes and 19 percent fewer fatalities than average for the past four years, going back to 2003, he said. Last year, only 18 people died on the interstate, compared with 25 in 2005 and 26 in 2004.

A collaborative effort between FHP and the sheriff's office made the reduction possible, he said. But an optional overtime program approved by the Legislature has made it possible to put more troopers on the highways enforcing the speed limit, said Taylor, who has practical advice to improve highway safety.

"I just tell people not to be in a hurry to get somewhere," he said.