ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — It’s a familiar issue dating back decades on Gandy Boulevard — drivers racing from St. Petersburg to Tampa at dangerous speeds, and they haven’t slowed down yet.
The area surrounding the bridge has seen more development and more traffic, getting busier over recent years. The “flyover” which took out some traffic lights, has led to things being more congested during rush hour, but as night falls police officers think it’s made the area even more ripe for racing.
“Now with the overpass, you go from the bridge all the way to the interstate. People just see it’s open, they like to speed,” St. Petersburg Police Lt. Jason Levey said.
Every weekend, local and state police agencies are arresting drivers traveling well over the 55 mph speed limit.
Take March 1, for example, it didn’t take long for St. Pete officers to pull over one of their first street racers of the month.
They charged a driver who they say zoomed passed officers going over 90 miles per hour, racing another vehicle.
Two hours later on the same night, they pulled over another speeding culprit, this time on a motorbike. Both incidents and stops were recorded on officers’ dash cameras.
Levey says they work nearly every day to catch speeders in the act, with both high visibility enforcement and unmarked cruisers. But even with a presence, drivers still seem to floor it.
“Sometimes the [unmarked] officers have been engaged thinking that they're going to race them back and they end up finding us, the police,” Levey added.
And that’s just one department. St. Pete, Tampa, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol all have jurisdiction over parts of Gandy.
Levey says a joint operation last month found more than 30 bikers going double the speed limit, speeds reaching 120 mph.
“Whether it's the fast cars and motorcycles. People just have a carefree attitude where it's not going to be me [who gets hurt or hurts someone else],” Levey explained.
He says that attitude is putting those who share the road at risk and they are urging drivers on social media and in the community to adhere to traffic laws before tragedy strikes.
“Anytime you speed, it just exponentially makes things more dangerous, especially with a crash,” Levey said. “You have people, families coming from the airport, going to the beach, coming home from work, going to work, it’s just so dangerous."
These agencies all coordinate to make sure there is a presence nearly every day, but they can’t be in the area 24/7. If you see anything reckless on the road make sure to give them a call.
Meantime, state lawmakers just passed a proposal for stricter penalties when it comes to street racing and so-called street takeovers, as the issues plague roads across the state.
Now headed to the governor, the bill would raise fines and even up some offenses from misdemeanors to felonies.