Wednesday, June 10, 2009

MONROE COUNTY -- Highway fatalities through the end of May were down 50 percent from last year, though the reason remains unclear, according to local law enforcement and rescue officers.

"There were 10 fatal accidents on the highway, excluding Key West, through the end of May last year," said Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Phyllis Riley. "So far this year there have been only five. Whether that's due to the barrier on the [18-Mile] Stretch or fewer tourists remains to be seen."

The local FHP office keeps accident statistics from mile marker 112 to Stock Island.

It has been a year since the Monroe County segment of the 18-Mile Stretch renovation project was completed. The first two phases of the project included the elevation of the causeway over Lake Surprise, the completion of the 65-foot-high Jewfish Creek Bridge and a three-foot cement barrier erected that divides the highway. Lower speed limits in construction area has continued as work proceeds on the Dade County portion of the highway.

It has also been a year when fuel prices and the economic recession have put a damper on tourism.

Brenda Beckmann, an EMT, registered nurse and Key Largo Ambulance Corps officer since 1990, said she cannot recall any fatal accidents in Key Largo or on the Stretch this year, but remembers a rash of them last year.

"I think the difference is the economy," she said. "People just aren't coming down like they used to."

She said the busiest weekend so far was Memorial Day, but there were so many cars people couldn't drive over 30 mph.

"When people slow down accidents are not deadly," she said.

Key Largo Fire Chief Sergio Garcia, however, believes the Stretch's concrete divider has played a role.

"That's where all the head-ons [collisions] were," he said. "Since the barrier there has not been one single fatality, not a single accident where anyone had to be airlifted."

sgibbs@keysnews.com