Jacksonville Traffic Deaths Breaks Record in 2007

[Lunican]

In discussions about why cars are so great and mass transit is such a failure, rarely is it mentioned that 45,000 people die each year in the United States as a direct result of automobiles.

Jacksonville Traffic Deaths Breaks Record in 2007

JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Every day, more words and thoughts are added to the memorial. There are more flowers, more momentoes of 17-year-old Jordan Williams.

Williams was killed in an unsolved hit and run accident. She is just one of the many people killed on Jacksonville roads in 2007. It's a statistic that is breaking a record.

"It's a big difference. Then you have to look at some contributing factors, one being alcohol," says Ken Jefferson of the JSO.

Jefferson says last year, 141 people died in traffic crashes in Jacksonville. This year, the number has skyrocketed 20 percent to 170 fatalities.

"My son was killed 18 months ago on Beach Boulevard near Kernan," says Peggy Ceballos.

Ceballos has lived through the pain of losing a child in a crash. "Partying and drove away from the party and lost control of his vehicle," says Ceballos.

Police say this year alone, at least 61 of the 170 deaths are alcohol related. "The average alcohol blood content in these persons is 0.19," says Jefferson.

The average is more than double the legal limit.
Police say there are other factors in the crashes, like people simply not paying attention. "Turn these cell phones off while you're driving," says Jefferson.

Another factor, says Jefferson, the city's growth rate. There are more people moving here, which means more people are on the road.

"It was devastating," says Ceballos, a mother who feels the pain Jordan Williams' family now feels.

She's a mother who asks for those behind the wheel to be responsible. "You can't explain the devastation. It destroys your life."

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=98263