MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Two recent fatal crashes, and the arrest of a man this week for racing along a stretch of U.S. 1 in Martin County, has the sheriff’s office once again fighting an uphill battle, to get drivers to slow down.
Outside Condon Jewelers along U.S. 1, Arvette Robinson has seen her fair share of crashes.
On Wednesday, she saw a group of Martin County deputies running radar, part of a high visibility traffic operation.
“Definitely comforting, because what happened last month we never want to happen again,” Robinson said.
Four people died in a high speed crash back in October at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Baker Road.
More recently, a man died in a wreck at U.S. 1 and Eugenia.
“It’s senseless loss of life. There’s no reason for it. We’re capturing speeds of over 100 miles an hour,” Deputy Erick Day said from behind the wheel as he drove north of the Roosevelt Bridge.
Day said the traffic issues they face are complex, where visibility is just one part.
“Really half the battle is just being out and being seen,” he said.
Celeste Eskridge is worried about being seen when she crosses the busy roads. She appreciates the added deputy presence.
“They would do that all the time, because it would save a lot of lives and a lot of accidents just wouldn’t happen,” Eskridge said.
Some believe the adding of a red arrow to turn off U.S. 1 at Baker has helped. However, the speeding issue isn’t going away anytime soon.
Day pulled over a Jeep going almost 70 mph.
“He apologized and said he didn’t realize he was traveling that fast,” Day said.
Day said their effort isn’t about writing tickets.
“First and foremost, going to at least show the public that we’re trying to navigate around this problem,” he said.
As for how much longer this high visibility traffic enforcement will take place, Day feels it will become part of their regular routine.
“I think what we’re doing is working. We just have to keep that rhythm going,” he said.
