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Highway Patrol Tracks 'Alarming' Spike of Hit-and-Run Accidents

Photo: Pixabay via Public Domain

  The Florida Highway patrol is charting what its officers call an "alarming" increase in hit-and-run crashes statewide for several years running, with Lee County ranking eight in the state for the number of crashes.
 

That's on top of a growing number drivers on state roads and a surge in traffic deaths in Florida. Estimates from 2016 put the number of traffic deaths above 3,200, a jump of nearly ten percent. Lee County again leads Southwest Florida as the county with the deadliest roads in the region, especially for pedestrians

 

Wednesday at 1 p.m. on Gulf Coast Live, Lt. Greg Bueno with the Florida Highway Patrol joins the program to talk about why Florida saw a spike of hit-and-run crashes, numbering more than 99,000 statewide last year, including more than 7,600 such crashes in the Southwest area. 
 

Lt. Beuno will also discuss the new initiative at FHP urging drivers to "Stay at the Scene" to call for help, avoid fines and penalties, and possibly save lives.

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.
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