VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Drivers along U.S. 17, State Road 11 and State Road 40 may have noticed an increased law-enforcement presence in recent weeks, and that’s no coincidence.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has launched a targeted traffic-enforcement initiative, cracking down on speeding and aggressive driving on these three high-risk corridors in West Volusia. The effort comes after a string of serious, and in some cases, deadly crashes.
“I think when you look at what’s been happening up there, we had some folks who ran a railroad crossing and got killed,” said Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood. “One of my deputy’s daughters was killed up there recently.”
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Chitwood said deputies began saturating the area in early June. Since then, they’ve issued more than 117 tickets, 28 warnings, and 11 criminal citations.
“These roads have historically been bad,” Chitwood said. “Going out there and writing tickets is a good temporary fix, but what do we need to do to stop our young people from dying out there?”
Local residents, like Luis Alberto Acosta Jr., say the increased patrols are a welcome change.
“I’ve seen a few accidents, they speed. It’s like a mini highway,” Acosta said. “It’s dangerous, especially crossing that street. People get hit, too.”
The sheriff’s office says the stepped-up enforcement will continue for the coming weeks as officials evaluate crash trends and road conditions.
There is no set timeline for scaling back the operation, and deputies say they will remain out “as long as they need to be.”