SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – After several cars were damaged in a neighborhood off Lake Howell Road, one mother was set on finding a way to get drivers to slow down.
In April, Kelly Steffee woke up to the sound of deputies at her door, alerting her that someone hit several of their cars and drove off.
"Two of our vehicles along with our trailer, totaled them in a hit-and-run," she said. "After that, all the neighbors talked that it's been going on for years; people have been using our street as a cut-through to miss the light at Lake Howell Road and Howell Branch Road."
The speed limit on her street, Linden Road, is 25 mph, which she said people use as more of a guideline.
So Steffee stepped up and reached out to county leaders, so she could protect her five children, including a 4-year-old who lives with autism.
"There is that chance he could possibly get out in the middle of the night," she said. "Autism kids are known for getting out in the middle of the night."
It only took Steffee only a matter of three weeks to get signs that read "Child with Autism" installed on her street as a way to convince drivers to slow down.
The sign doesn't mean any added penalties for drivers, and is only meant as an advisement. But it does give Steffee hope that people will be more cautious in her neighborhood.
"I hope it makes them more aware and makes them pay attention to their surroundings a little more, and know there are children in the area who don't know danger," Steffee said.
File: Safety Warning Zone Form
Anyone can request a sign for a road maintained by the county by calling the Seminole County Traffic Engineering Division at 407-665-5677.