WEST VOLUSIA COMMUNITY TRAFFIC SAFETY TEAM

MINUTES OF MEETING - October 10, 2000

Those Present:

The meeting of the West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team (WVCTST) was called to order at 8:35 am by Chairman John Izzo.

Introductions of new members in attendance were made. The DeLand Police department and the Volusia County School Board members were recognized.

Pat O'Dare mentioned that he approached the First Community Bank to see if they would be receptive to the idea of providing coffee and donuts to the WVCTST and was pleasantly surprised to hear they would be supportive with this and possibly other small needs of the team.

Chairman John Izzo asked for the members to review the minutes to see if there are any questions and/or corrections that need to be made. A question regarding the availability of the minutes on the Volusia County Engineering web site was asked. Rick Prine from Volusia County Engineering stated that they have the minutes back to April, but they need January through March. John Izzo stated that he will look to see if he has copies of any of the earlier minutes.

Ken Harley stated that he now has an e-mail address. He thinks his address is ken.harley@dot.state.fl.us. This address has since been verified and found to be correct.

A motion was made and seconded to approve the meeting minutes of September 12, 2000. The motion passed unanimously.

Chairman John Izzo went over the Volusia County Crash Statistics report.

Pat O'Dare mentioned that Biketoberfest is coming up.

Jon Cheney noted that this will be the first year of Biketoberfest since the passage of the new law that no longer requires motorcycle riders to wear helmets. Jon also mentioned that there was a fatal pedestrian crash the previous night at Ormond by the Sea.

Rick Prine also mentioned there was a head-on collision with one fatality the previous night.

Discussion continued.

Chairman John Izzo will need to check the Crash statistics to verify the numbers. Some of the statistics appeared to be incorrect. It has been determined there was an error and it has been corrected.

Jon Cheney stated that the individual that enters all of the crash data in the database which produces the Volusia County Crash Statistics report has left to take another job.

Chairman John Izzo asked FDOT about Tallahassee's progress on their effort to scan all crash reports to develop a Statewide database.

Tony Nosse stated that this is under way, but only for crashes on State roads. Malcolm Smith asked Tony if this included both Long and Short Form crash reports. Tony stated that this project was only scanning in Long Form crash reports.

Tony also mentioned that this data will be available on a CR-ROM in the near future.

Chairman John Izzo stated that it would be nice if this data would be available to be put on the web for easy downloading. John also thought that it would make the data more user friendly.

Jon Cheney continued this discussion about public access to crash data and security issues involved by including it on their web site.

Tony Nosse stated that he had been contacted by a newspaper reporter looking into crashes along I-95 and US 1 in Brevard County.

Chairman Izzo suggested that a summary Excel type of spreadsheet would provide a useful service for the public. However, this spreadsheet would not include specific crash locations.

Barry Wall discussed the State CTST Coalition meeting that took place in Orlando on the previous day.

Mike Matz stated that 91% of enforcement agencies signed up for the Enforcement Wave. Mike also stated that the next Enforcement Wave will take place between October 18-26.

Mike Matz discussed enforcement Roll Call Training and the pushing of enforcement. Mike stated that the State is still compiling the data from the Seatbelt Survey project that this CTST helped with. Mike stated that every one percent increase in Florida's seatbelt compliance rate means approximately $1 million for Florida.

Pat O'Dare asked about the feasibility of using cameras to conduct future seatbelt surveys.

Barry Wall mentioned that in an effort to get more enforcement agencies to participate in the Enforcement Waves, that red light running would also be targeted.

Barry also suggested that the CTST's contact recipients of safety grants to see if they would be willing to participate on a regular basis with the CTST's.

Ken stated that the Walk Your Child To School event went very well. In Deltona at Sunrise Elementary School approximately 90 kids participated in the event. Following the event Malcolm Smith conducted safety classes for the children using a mock pedestrian traffic signal.

Rick Prine discussed the success of the Walk at Indian River Elementary School. They had about 120 children participate in the Walk Your Child To School event. On the Monday prior to this event Malcolm Smith conducted safety classes for the children using the mock pedestrian traffic signal.

Barry Wall mentioned that the school he worked with on the Walk Your Child To School event had around 200 kids that participated. Barry mentioned that this school had a poster contest and had lots of TV coverage.

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

Tony Nosse discussed projects 900-1 through 900-5. Projects 1 through 4 were all maintenance related and were referred to the proper authorities. Malcolm mentioned that project #3 has been completed.

Chip Kent brought up the CR 92/US 92 between SR 15A and Kepler Road. This project was discussed at the last CTST meeting. A corridor study will be done to determine if any improvements are warranted.

Pat O'Dare noticed that the new FDOT overpass on Kepler Road has no sign on it that states the height of the bridge. Jon Cheney stated that the bridge was supposed to be 17 feet tall, but it is actually a little less.

Chairman John Izzo stated that Pennsylvania is using Police "dummies" on the side of roads in an effort to fight crime. John also mentioned that on his trip to New York recently he saw LED lighting being used a lot.

Malcolm Smith stated the National Safety Council will be having their national conference in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center next Wednesday. Malcolm asked if FDOT would be sending a representative. Tony Nosse stated that they would not be attending.

Jon Cheney stated that he would like to ask the West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team to endorse three projects that the County will be sending up to Tallahassee for the Transportation Outreach Program (TOPs). Those three projects are:

(1) Saxon Blvd. widening between US 17/92 and its current 4 lane section;

(2) Veterans Mem. Pkwy extension between SR 472 and Graves Ave;

(3) Extension of Harley Strickland Blvd. from Veterans Mem. Pkwy to Saxon Blvd.

DeLand Police Officer Mark Demaster asked how he can get a school zone along Hill Avenue at DeLand High School. Safety concerns regarding high school students and the oak tree at Crescent Ridge Parkway were discussed. Jon Cheney stated that he would look into the matter to see what can be done to ensure that vehicles and pedestrians have safe access to and from the school.

Bea Leatherman stated newspapers have reported that parents would like to see crossing guards placed around middle schools. Discussion continued with comments about middle school aged kids and how they would probably not pay attention to what the crossing told them regarding safety issues. Bea suggested that the CTST might want to put some educational materials together for the middle schools. It was thought that this would be more efficient that adding crossing guards.

Everyone thanked Pat O'Dare for bringing in complementary coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts.

The meeting of the West Volusia Community Traffic Safety Team was adjourned at 10:25 am by Chairman John Izzo.

NEXT AGENDA FOR NOVEMBER 13, 2000:

WEST VOLUSIA COMMUNITY TRAFFIC SAFETY TEAM MEETING

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

BREAK

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION