ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Highway Patrol is urging caution on the roads after a concerning rise in fatal crashes across Central Florida.
Troopers who are part of Troop D have investigated 35 deaths between Feb. 1 and Feb. 16 of 2021, according to FHP. In the same period last year, there were 11 fatal crashes.
Troop D covers Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
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“It’s pretty daunting right now for our traffic homicide investigators to go to two and three fatal scenes a day sometimes,” Lt. Kim Montes said. “I do not recall such a short period of time with such a high number of fatal crashes.”
Of the deaths so far in 2021, eight involved motorcyclists, 11 involved pedestrians and 13 were crashes involving vehicles.
Troopers said there hasn’t been one issue behind the uptick, however, most of the crashes were preventable.
“Looking at some of these fatal crashes, there were blatant traffic violations that were committed by one driver that caused these fatal crashes,” Montes said.
Historically, March is one of the deadliest months of the year for crashes, which is why the FHP is spreading a message of awareness.
“Everyone needs to look at their driving behavior,” Montes said. “We have innocent people that are being killed out there because drivers aren’t following the basic drivers-ed kind of rules.”
Montes said every driver should take notice of their driving habits as more vehicles are expected on the road next month.
In addition to standard patrols, the FHP is looking at other enforcement options to encourage everyone to drive safely.