OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla – As part of the “Vision Zero Action Plan” Osceola County will hold three open houses to gather community input for the plan.
From 2018 to 2022, according to statistics from Vision Zero Central Florida, unincorporated Osceola County, Kissimmee and St. Cloud saw more than 1,100 crashes where someone died or was seriously injured.
Osceola, along with Orange and Seminole counties are hoping to bring that number down to zero through the Vision Zero Action Plan
According to Vision Zero’s regional dashboard there were 129 pedestrian crashes where someone was seriously injured or killed in the Osceola County region from 2018 to 2022.
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There were 48 crashes involving bicycles, and 187 crashes involving motorcycles in that same time period.
Lartca Acosta said she notices distracted drivers on the road.
“They don’t use their seatbelts, they’re on their phone, they’re not paying attention to other ones,” Acosta said.
According to the Osceola regional dashboard on Vision Zero’s website, from 2018 to 2022 there were 437 distracted driving crashes that either resulted in a serious injury or death.
Another Osceola County resident, Ferdenandez Akeekker said he feels time of day also plays a role.
“Most drivers are very ignorant,” Akeekker said. “They don’t go by the speed limits, and they go through the red lights and especially in the morning and the night time, when people are going home from work, it is so bad.”
Vision Zero’s dashboard also breaks down the crashes by time of day. According to the dashboard 216 of the crashes in the Osceola region happened between 6:00 and 9:00 p.m.
As Osceola county moves forward with the vision zero action plan, they’re asking for the public’s input at three open houses in the coming weeks.
In a statement about Vision Zero the county tells us in part:
“By getting involved in the upcoming public workshops and pop-up events you will play in important role in development of an accurate Action Plan which, with your help, will identify opportunities to improve our region’s transportation network to eliminate traffic related deaths and serious injuries.”
The first meeting will take place at the St. Cloud Community Center on Tuesday, Feb. 27 beginning at 5:30 p.m.
To see when the other two meetings are scheduled, click here.
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