Woman's death prompts renewed calls for signal

Officials continue their push for a signal on Curlew Road where a woman was killed Tuesday.

By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 4, 2002

OLDSMAR -- Hana Can was determined to stay active despite a recent stroke and a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis.

Against her doctor's advice, the German-born mother of four frequently rode her electric scooter several blocks down a neighborhood street and crossed the six lanes of Curlew Road to get to a busy shopping center. That's what she did Tuesday night: She bought a vacuum cleaner at the Kmart in the Woodlands Square plaza.

On her way home about 7:40 p.m., Mrs. Can, 42, was struck as she crossed Curlew Road by an eastbound Nissan Altima. She died about an hour later at Mease Countryside Hospital.

Mrs. Can leaves behind a family struggling to comprehend why their mother would die "in such a painful way" after surviving so many years of multiple sclerosis, said Mrs. Can's daughter Elisabeth Can, 18.

"What am I supposed to do?" she said. "I don't know how we will go on without her, but we have a very strong family and a lot of friends who care."

To nearby residents, the fatal accident adds urgency to their pleas for a traffic light at Curlew Road and the main entrance to the Gull Aire Village neighborhood, which is where Mrs. Can was struck. For years, city officials have lobbied the state Department of Transportation to install a traffic light at that intersection, which also is one of the main entrances to the AMC Woodlands Square 20 movie theater.

Last month, Oldsmar City Council member Brian Michaels launched a campaign dubbed Project Red Light to lobby local, county and state officials for the traffic light. DOT officials have said that traffic studies have shown that the intersection did not warrant a signal.

"Obviously, we were trying to raise awareness that we didn't want to have a fatality," Michaels said. "We have been very fortunate that we haven't had a fatality (on Curlew Road), and we believed it was only a matter of time. Unfortunately, our luck ran out."

DOT officials said the last traffic study, completed about a year ago, showed that the intersection did not meet any of the requirements for a signal.

"Right now, it's premature to say what the department is going to do," DOT spokeswoman Marian Pscion said Wednesday. "We need to wait until after the investigation is over to see how the accident happened. Any time you lose a life on the roadway, it's awful."

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, Mrs. Can was heading south on Curlew Road when she drove her electric cart into the path of the Nissan, driven by 17-year-old Jacqueline Justiniano, an 11th-grader at East Lake High School.

No charges were filed in the accident, said sheriff's spokesman Cal Dennie.

For years, city officials have said that it would take a fatal accident to convince the state to install a traffic light.

"Her death is on DOT's conscience, because they are the ones who won't put the light up," said Oldsmar Mayor Jerry Beverland. "We have been telling them all along that this was going to happen, and now it happened. I would like someone from DOT to explain to us why this lady had to die."

The intersection is dangerous, residents and city officials say, because Gull Aire Village has many elderly homeowners who can no longer drive and use electric scooters and tricycles to get to the shopping center for groceries and errands. Gull Aire also is next to two other subdivisions that have children and residents who cross Curlew Road to get to the plaza and the 20-screen movie theater.

Even though the intersection might not have met traffic requirements for a signal, DOT engineers need to consider other factors such as the numerous pedestrians who cross Curlew Road's six lanes every day, said John Woulfe, 77, a resident director of Gull Aire. Not to mention, he said, the elderly residents who can still drive and have to zip across the busy road's six lanes to get into the plaza.

"Nobody wants to have stop lights all of the time," Woulfe said. "But to us -- getting in and out of here -- it is very, very dangerous."

Safety on Curlew Road is an ongoing concern for reasons other than the request for a traffic signal. Last year, DOT increased the speed limit from 45 to 50 mph but recently lowered it again to 45 mph at the request of state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Palm Harbor.

Mrs. Can lived in the Bayside Meadows subdivision next to Gull Aire. She rode an electric scooter because her medical condition made it difficult to walk, Elisabeth Can said.

Mrs. Can's family moved to Florida in 1989 and has lived in Oldsmar for about five years. Mrs. Can could speak German, was a good cook and enjoyed meeting new people.

"Everybody loved my mom," Elisabeth Can said. "She just loved to get out and meet people. She was always out and about."

Even though she was weakened from her medical condition, Mrs. Can never used that as an excuse to stay at home, Elisabeth Can said.

"My mom was a very tough person," she said. "To raise four kids like she did is incredible, and I thank her for that. She was very, very much loved by her kids and we will always love her."

-- Ed Quioco can be reached at (727) 445-4183 or at quioco@sptimes.com.

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