Charlotte County cracks down on speedy drivers

Published: Updated:

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. – Deputies in Charlotte County have issued 14,000 warnings just this year. One of their main concerns is U.S. 41.

Some drivers along U.S. 41 are going well over the recently changed 40 mph speed limit. Deputies have seen double the amount of deaths along this road since last year, now they are cracking down.

The speed limit recently changed from 55 mph to 40 mph. Instead of deputies issuing tickets to drivers, deputies want them to walk away with a warning.

“It’s education,” said Mike Spirk, who was issued a warning, “40 mph and that’s it, not a mile over.”

The 15 mph drop is to protect construction workers, but deputies say it’s causing a mess out on the roads.

“Since it’s such a drastic change in speed, along with the workers and construction vehicles out there, the people who are actually adhering to the speed limit are almost getting run over,” said Sgt. Jason Doherty with the Charlotte County Traffic Unit.

People say U.S. 41 is like a speedway and cops are doing all they can to keep people safe. Deputies say they’ve been educating people about the speed change and they are seeing less repeat offenders.

“It feels good, anytime that we can educate someone without having to write a citation, we’re not out here to write citations, we’re out here to simply prevent crashes,” said Doherty.

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