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There's been a big spike in fatal traffic crashes in St Pete. What's causing it?

This year, 40 people have died in deadly crashes in St. Petersburg, drastically higher than the 25 crash-related deaths in 2017.
Credit: 10News
A stolen Hyundai Sonata hit a PT Cruiser on Nov. 24 at 18th Avenue S. and 25th Street S. in St. Petersburg.

This year, 40 people have died in deadly crashes in St. Petersburg, drastically higher than the 25 crash-related deaths in 2017.

The significant increase prompted St. Pete police to deploy a special traffic enforcement operation from Wednesday through Friday.

The special operation will target one of the city’s most dangerous streets: 34th Street from 5th Avenue S. to 5th Avenue N.

“Eight of the 40 deaths happened on 34th Street,” said St. Petersburg Police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez. “We had 13 fatalities in November, which is pretty much unheard of. That’s high in the city. We don’t normally see those numbers.”

But why the drastic spike in crashes?

“We did a study and we discovered crashes are happening all over the city and from different circumstances. The one common denominator is that people are just distracted,” Fernandez said.

Distracted by phones, GPS and other new technology in vehicles.

“It doesn’t really surprise me,” bicyclist Melissa Colbourne said. “People are moving to St. Pete like crazy, so there are a lot more people who want to walk and bike around here. But more people means more accidents, so the city needs to up their game.”

During Wednesday morning’s traffic operation, police gave out 17 moving violation citations, three criminal citations, one pedestrian citation, two warrant arrests, four motorist warnings, one non-moving citation and nine pedestrian warnings.

“Our pedestrians aren’t using the crosswalks and 80 percent of motorcycle drivers aren’t using helmets, so it’s a combination of things, but it comes down to people need to pay attention and slow down,” Fernandez said.

In addition to 34th Street, 4th Avenue is the next most dangerous area in the city for deadly traffic crashes.

Out of the 40 people that died in 2018, 13 were pedestrians, seven were motorcyclists, seven were on scooters, one was a bicyclist and the rest were vehicle crashes.

“I hope drivers start paying attention, so they don’t kill me,” bicyclist Dave Richmond said.

On Thursday, St Pete police will help kick off the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. The police DUI unit will target impaired and distracted drivers from 7-10 p.m.

On Friday, there will be high visibility enforcement using vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian violations from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

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