The Florida Highway Patrol with the support of the Florida Sheriff’s Association, the Florida Police Chief’s Association and the Florida Department of Transportation is rolling out a statewide campaign to curb the number of car crashes and fatalities that have been dramatically on the rise in Florida the last couple of years.
#Arrive Alive or Arrive Alive FL is the name of the campaign; it is a revitalization of the successful 1970’s campaign.
Part of the campaign is targeting hot spots in each Florida county based on the number of accidents and the seriousness of the crashes. The Villages as a whole has been targeted as a hot spot. Villages drivers should expect to see more of a police presence in this area.
The campaign was rolled out locally at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Annex on Friday morning. FHP Troop C Captain Anthony Sapp opened with remarks stating their mission to drive down the number of crashes and reverse the trend of increasing number of accidents. He cited aggressive driving and distracted driving as the main reasons for the increase.
“People are distracted, texting, not paying attention, doing everything but driving,” Sapp said.
Also present were Sumter County Sheriff Bill Farmer, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods and Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell. Each gave an update and statistics for their county.
Sheriff Farmer said that he is in full support of the campaign.
“We have an eight-man traffic unit. Since January, we have given out over 5,000 warnings,” he said. Since January there have been 779 accidents in Sumter. He also attributes aggressive driving as the cause.
“You’ve got to watch the other drivers as much your own driving. A lot of accidents could be prevented that way,” said Farmer.
Sheriff Grinnell started a five-man full-time DUI unit in March. They have made 50 arrests. In addition to drunk drivers, his team is also looking out for aggressive and distracted drivers.
Sheriff Woods said they are averaging 10,000 accidents a year in Marion County.
“I think texting and driving is just as bad as drunk driving. When you look down for even 1.5 seconds to look at your phone and look back up, it is too late to react the accident is going to happen,” he said.
Also, part of the campaign are safety programs that can be presented at group and club meetings. If you would like more information about this campaign or booking a speaker, go to www.flhsmv.gov.
