New traffic signs put up after car crashes into Orange County home

Homeowner now trying to get speed humps installed

ORLANDO, Fla. – One month after a car came crashing through their home just off Orange Blossom Trail, Angelica Samperio and her family are still living in a hotel. 

"It was devastating. The alarm from the car is still in my mind," she said. 

Samperio has been told her family cannot move back into their 37th Street home because it may be unsafe and unstable. 

Since News 6's initial report on the crash in December, Orange County Public Works employees have installed more reflective signs, a larger stop sign and replaced all the street lights near the intersection of 37th Street and Westmoreland Drive. 

The Florida Highway Patrol trooper investigating the case has attempted several times to talk to the registered owner of the vehicle, but has not been able to locate him, according to troopers. 

Troopers said they are still waiting for tests to be done by Orange County Sheriff's Office on the weapon found in the vehicle. 

In the 10 years her family has lived at the home, Samperio said she's seen cars take out the community mailbox as well as hit two tree trunks in her front yard. Her concerns for her family's safety only heightened after the December crash, especially since her two grandchildren were sleeping in the next room over from where the car crashed. 

Samperio hopes Orange County Public Works will also install speed humps on Westmoreland Drive. 

"A drastic change would be speed bumps," she said. "If I had to do it myself, I can do it myself. I spend my money." 

News 6 reached out to Orange County leaders who provided a detailed response on what it would take to get speed humps along the roadway: 

In 1994, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved the placement of speed humps in residential areas. Speed humps are used as an effective tool in relieving the speeding problems found with a neighborhood. The County Speed Hump Program creates a mechanism by which concerned citizens can fund the installation of speed humps by establishing a Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) which is assessed to those property owners who directly benefit from the installation of the speed humps. 

Speed humps are raised asphalt platforms that do not exceed three inches in height and are approximately 12 feet long. The County will install speed hump signs at the entrance of the neighborhood to alert drivers of their presence. Is Your Neighborhood Eligible? 

The County will work with your neighborhood to install speed humps if the following criteria are met: 

• Request for a speed hump is for a local residential street with a minimum average daily traffic count of 800 vehicles/day and a maximum of 3,000 vehicles per day. 
• Street has a posted speed limited of 30 mph or less. 
• The street has an observed 85th percentile speed greater than 30 mph. 
• The street has a maximum width of 24 feet. 

How Does a Citizen Request Speed Humps? 

1. Residents should submit a petition to the Traffic Engineering Division, signed by at least 66% of the homeowners or residents within a subdivision or along a particular roadway. The petition is available at the Traffic Engineering Web Page located under Orange County Public Works. 

2. Upon receipt of the petition, the Traffic Engineering Division will conduct a traffic study to determine if traffic conditions support the installation of speed humps. 

3. If traffic conditions support the installation of speed humps, a public information meeting will be held to present the results of the traffic study, provide a preliminary design and cost estimates, and to give the affected residents an opportunity to provide input. 

4. If the response from residents at the public information meeting is generally favorable, ballots will be mailed to each benefiting property owner within Orange County to vote “for” or “against” the establishment of a Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) to fund the installation of speed humps. The MSBU would be a one-time tax assessment to property owners located on the roadways where speed humps are proposed. The amount of the assessment is determined by dividing the total project cost by the number of benefiting Orange County property owners. The total project cost is based on the current price of a speed hump plus minimal administrative costs. 

5. If 66% of the returned ballots are in favor of the speed hump installation, the MSBU will be scheduled for a public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners. The Board of County Commissioners will make the final decision on the establishment of the MSBU. 

6. If the Board of County Commissioners approves the MSBU, Public Works will schedule the speed humps for installation. 

For more information, call the Orange County Public Works Traffic Engineering Division at 407-836-7890.  

Samperio said she plans to petition for speed humps. In the meantime, she says she's looking into other options like a barrier or fence in front of her yard. 


About the Author:

It has been an absolute pleasure for Clay LePard living and working in Orlando since he joined News 6 in July 2017. Previously, Clay worked at WNEP TV in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he brought viewers along to witness everything from unprecedented access to the Tobyhanna Army Depot to an interview with convicted double-murderer Hugo Selenski.

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