CAPE CORAL, Fla. — According to law enforcement, the number of traffic crashes is rising. Just within the last 24 hours there was another pedestrian hit on Del Prado Blvd. in Cape Coral and in the last several days multiple crashes in Fort Myers along with Charlotte County and Hendry County.
Cape Coral resident LeeAnn Wichlinski lives in an area where a lot of crashes happen.
”Speeding is number one," she said. "You actually have to keep up with traffic and speed yourself, so you can avoid people passing you, tailgating you.
"You can look over and see a couple people on their own phones, definitely distracted.”
LeeAnn says her car was hit on Del Prado Blvd. not too long ago.
"Del Prado is out of control. I was in a five-car pile up back in February. I was the fourth car back and got it from the front and the back."
Cape Coral isn't the only community of concern. Sgt. Kristi Neroni with the Fort Myers Police Department says crashes are already on the rise for 2022, outpacing the number of crashes that happened in 2021. Florida Highway Patrol says that figure was more than 400,000, with 3,700 fatalities.
“The majority of these are not accidents," Neroni said. "We call them crashes and that means that they are preventable.”
And when it comes to ages of the drivers involved in majority of these crashes?
“When we look at just in the past [15] months we’re looking at the majority of the ages is between 20 and 39," said Neroni.
Two of the best tips law enforcement has involve common sense and the rules of the road — slow down and wear your seat belt.
“Making a conscious effort to drive safe. Running that red light and taking the chance of hurting yourself or someone else, it’s not worth the risk," Neroni said. “To knock on someone’s door at 2 a.m. to tell them their loved one is not going to make it home tonight is very difficult.”
