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State antispeeding law skips worst spots
The I-95 speed zones happen to be around bill sponsors' homes.
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published July 16, 2007
MELBOURNE - A state law intended to punish speeders on stretches of Interstate 95 known for speed-related crashes bypasses the worst areas in favor of the home counties of the top lawmakers who supported the bill, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The law, signed in 2006 by then-Gov. Jeb Bush, provides for additional fines to speeding tickets issued on stretches of I-95 with "a high incidence" of speed-related crashes.
But when the first three enforcement zones were set, areas with higher rates of high-speed crashes were passed over in favor of the home counties of the law's sponsors, a Florida Today analysis found.
I-95 motorists currently face increased fines in parts of Brevard County, home of Rep. Thad Altman, R-Viera; and Duval County, home of Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville. The third zone is in Palm Beach County, home of bill sponsor Sen. Jeffrey Atwater, R-North Palm Beach, which has the second worst I-95 speed-related crash rate in the state, the newspaper reported.
"A lot of times as things get down to the wire, you go with what you're familiar with, and with us it was Brevard," said Rick Kendust, Altman's legislative assistant. "I don't think we really had the time to break down where they ranked."
Florida Today analyzed more than a million interstate crashes between 2002 and 2005 to identify crashes where speed was listed as a factor or a driver got a speeding ticket.
Broward County, home of a massive interstate interchange, and Palm Beach counties were by far the worst on I-95 with 20.3 and 16.1 crashes per 100-million vehicle-miles traveled. The average in the counties along I-95 was 6.1.
The rates in Duval and Brevard counties were, respectively, 3.95 and 3.88 crashes per 100-million miles driven, the newspaper said. Duval County statistics include Interstate 10.
[Last modified July 15, 2007, 23:44:20]
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by Mike
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07/16/07 04:12 PM
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I'm sure Stephen happily exceeds the posted speed limits at every opportunity just to prove his theory. Speed kills. It wastes gas. You can blow smoke trying to justify your unsafe driving habits, but you can't escape the facts.
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by Bill
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07/16/07 02:04 PM
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I somehow doubt that there were 1,000,000 crashes on I-95 in Florida during the four years from 2002-2005. That's almost 700 per day, 7 days a week. That's close to two accidents per mile of highway every day. Someone needs to check their figures.
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by Carlos
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07/16/07 08:12 AM
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"I don't think we really had time to break down where they ranked" DUH-DE-DUH... Should't that have been done BEFORE the bill was even proposed ???
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by Stephen
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07/16/07 07:33 AM
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A true speed related accident is going too fast for existing conditions, not over the speed limit. If just going over the speed limit would cause you to get into an accident, than everyone who broke the 55 in the 80's would have been dead!
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