WEST VOLUSIA COMMUNITY TRAFFIC SAFETY TEAM

MINUTES OF MEETING - February 13, 2001

Those Present:

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting of the West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team was called to order at 8:33 am by Chairman John Izzo.

INTRODUCTION

Chairman Izzo began the meeting by requesting that everyone in attendance introduce themselves.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The minutes from the January 9, 2001 meeting were passed out to the members for review. Chairman Izzo asked for the members to review the minutes to see if there were any questions and/or corrections that needed to be made.

Chairman Izzo stated that the CTST minutes are kept on the Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department's website. Chairman Izzo asked how far back do the minutes go - for the minutes housed on the Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department's website? Jon Cheney, Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department, stated that the minutes for the West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team meetings go back to April of 2000.

At this time Jon Cheney passed out a hard copy of the Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department's website for everyone to look at.

At this point, time was given to the members to review last month's meeting minutes. Hearing no comments/requests for corrections to the minutes - a motion was made by Jon Cheney to approve the January 9, 2001 meeting minutes, and was seconded by Malcolm Smith. The motion passed unanimously.

PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS

At this point, Chairman Izzo moved the discussion to the Problems and Solutions report.

Tasha Huster, FDOT, asked if anyone needed a copy of the "West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team" form. No one requested any new forms. Tasha gave un update on two projects not listed on the Problems and Solution summary spreadsheet.

The first project is on US 17/92 from US 92 to Plymouth Avenue. The second project is on SR 472 at I-4.

Jon Cheney discussed a maintenance issue regarding a sign behind a tree at US 17/92 north of Howry Avenue.

Pat O'Dare noted that the intersection of SR 44 and Boston Avenue seems to be a location that has potential to be a high crash area, especially during the am peak period. It was noted that this intersection has a lot of school bus traffic, plus a school pedestrian crossing.

Chairman Izzo stated that there were 4 crashes at that intersection between May 1999 and April 2000. Chairman Izzo asked Pat to fill out a "West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team" form so the appropriate agency can look into this matter.

Jon Cheney and Malcolm Smith brought to the Team's attention that at the intersection of SR 40 and SR 11 north of DeLand one of the flashing lights and rumble strips have not been replaced since the completion of the resurfacing project. Both Jon and Malcolm will fill out a "West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team" form so FDOT can investigate this matter.

Chairman Izzo asked if there were any other items to be discussed under the Problems and Solutions report. No other issues were discussed under this section.

CRASH STATISTICS

Chairman Izzo went over the Volusia County Crash Statistics report. Chairman Izzo discussed the period between January 1 to April 30 for both 1999 and 2000. In 1999 during this period there were 3,792 crashes, while in 2000 there were 4,360 - an increase of approximately 15 percent. Fatalities went from 34 to 28 (a 17.6 percent decrease), while injuries went from 1,979 to 2,095 (a 5.9 percent increase) between 1999 and 2000. It was also noted that there have been 15 fatalities to date this calendar year.

Pat O'Dare discussed a fatal crash that occurred in the Lake Helen area at the intersection of SR 44 and Prevatt Avenue.

Jon Cheney stated that his department has completed the compiling of crash records up through May of 2000.

NEW BUSINESS

Barry Wall, FDOT, went over six items from the District 5 CTST Advisory newsletter.

The first item was a Child Safety Seat Checkpoint event sponsored by the Volusia County Fire & Rescue that will take place on February 14, 2001 between 11 am and 2 pm. In addition to child safety seat checking, child finger printing and vehicle VIN# window etching services will be provided.

There will also be Child Safety Seat Checkpoints on February 17, March 10 & 24, April 21, and May 19.

The second item discussed by Barry was the P.I.E. grant funds for 2001. Proposal are due in by February. Barry stated that the east and west CTST's will combine their funds to buy educational materials. Since funds will be spent collectively, no logos will be included on these materials that could distinguish them between the east or west CTST.

The third item was the DUI rule changes on blood/breath testing. Barry stated that anyone wishing more detail should contact the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to get a copy of the proposed changes.

The fourth item was the Stop Red Light Running Campaign 2001. Jon Cheney asked the Team if we should write a letter to our legislative delegation to seek their support for this important issue? Jon made a motion to this effect and was seconded by Malcolm Smith. The motion passed unanimously.

The fifth item was a discussion of the various Proposed State Legislature Bills in the House and Senate.

The sixth item was the Spring CTST Coalition Meeting that is scheduled for April 9th to be held in Ft. Myers.

Pat O'Dare stated that the group that opposed and fought to repeal the motorcycle helmet law is now gearing up to fight for the repeal of the seatbelt law. Pat also mentioned that the current seatbelt law allows for a large amount of exemptions for people that are not required to wear a seatbelt.

Mike Neidhart, Volusia County MPO, discussed the Mini-Grants that are available from Bike Florida. The grants are meant to provide funds to organizations throughout the state that promote bicycle and pedestrian safety programs. The mini-grants, while minimal, provide assistance to purchase equipment (such as helmets, road or trail signage, bikes or bike repair for educational programs, etc.), printed materials (printing of bicycle safety information, safety signage for bicycle events, trail maps, etc.) or other safety related projects.

The mini-grants range from $500 to $1,000 per year. The deadline for application is February 15, 2001, although applications will still be accepted after this date. Also, the applicant agrees to help publicize and recognize the 'Share the Road' specialty license plate and Bike Florida for their support of their program.

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION

Barry Wall asked for input from the Team regarding the shirts the Team would like to have. The consensus was that the shirts would be in the "polo" style with the color being yellow with blue trim.

Rick Prine, Volusia County Traffic Engineering Department, stated that he conducted a seatbelt survey at Spruce Creek High School. The results were that 65.4 percent of the students were wearing their seatbelt. This is in-line with the State's average. This study was conducted during the AM peak during a one-hour period. Some of Rick's findings were that people in pick-up trucks and older cars did not wear seatbelts as often than people in other types of vehicles.

Barry Wall wondered whether we could get the different high school Resource Officers to conduct seatbelt surveys at their schools. The data collected from this effort could be used to target schools for additional educational training.

Bea Leatherman, Volusia County Sheriff's Department, stated that if parents wear their seatbelt 70 percent of their children will wear their seatbelt as well.

Jon Cheney discussed three studies that are underway:

(1) A truck classification study on Taylor Road between US 17/92 and MLK Beltway;

(2) A left turn analysis/study at Pine Ridge High School - traffic backing up on Howland Blvd.; and

(3) A 4-way stop study at Hill Avenue and Crescent Pkwy just south of DeLand High School. The results indicate that a 4-way stop sign is not warranted.

Bea Leatherman stated that many of the school crossing signs are in need of cleaning. Bea asked who is responsible for maintaining these signs and whether there was a maintenance program in place for the cleaning of these signs?  Jon Cheney stated that he normally receives requests for the cleaning of these signs, completes the work on those under the County's jurisdiction and passes along the remaining requests to the appropriate agency responsible for their maintenance.

Pat O'Dare asked about the lack of lighting on the pedestrian bridge at the FDOT maintenance facility on Kepler Road. Barry stated that the overpass does have lighting.

Pat O'Dare also raised the issue of the un-safe traffic operators at the Arvida/Victoria Park development. The discussion centered around whether these workers have been certified as "Qualified Flagmen" or not. Jon Cheney said that he would look into this.

Jon Cheney mentioned that the new SR 472 interchange at I-4 is now open to the public.

With no other discussion, the meeting of the West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team meeting was adjourned at 9:45 am by Chairman John Izzo.

NEXT AGENDA FOR March 13, 2001:

INTRODUCTION
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS - Tony Nosse, FDOT
CRASH STATISTICS - John Izzo, Consultant
NEW BUSINESS

BREAK

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION