Talk of The Villages Florida - Accidents on 466 (and other areas)

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)

- The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)

- - Accidents on 466 (and other areas) (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/accidents-466-other-areas-65273/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skybo (Post 589929)

One thing to keep in mind terrieb is that the sounds of sirens and presence of EMS vehicles and the helicopter does not necessarily indicate a serious accident, or even an accident at all. Minor accidents and medical events often involve fire trucks as first responders, followed up by EMS vehicles. The helicopter is also used for medical events that don't have anything to do with an accident. It seems to me that since I’ve lived here, there have been relatively few serious accidents for the size of the population. And I think that the mature population around here is, in general, a safer group of drivers than the young drivers encountered in other cities. Really young drivers are more likely to speed, tailgate and drive aggressively.

This area seems a lot safer in terms of the number and severity of accidents when compared with other places I have lived especially the Tampa Bay area around US19 where I often saw a serious accident every week the 9 years or so I lived there.

The golf carts mixing with the licensed motor vehicles does take a lot to get used to and many Villagers do seem to drive with some abandon of the rules of safety and commeon courtesy.

You just have to be careful when driving around golf carts, walkers, dog walkers, inline skaters, bicyclists, motorcycles, scooters, turtles, gators, ducks, etc.

They have lowered the speeding limit to just 20 m.p.h. in many parts of the Villages which helps.

Welcome to Florida... I've lived in several areas in Florida that were beautiful therefore attractive to tourists and traffic has been a problem. We adjusted to the flow and we do the same here. When you travel to the coasts of Florida you will see tons of traffic and consequently accidents. That's the price you pay for basking in the sunshine. We live very active lives and haven't found it to be a problem just an inconvenience at times.

Golf carts are another issue since anyone can drive them. In the past five years there have been 10 fatalities according to POA statistics. Driving my cart to shopping areas as well as restaurants is one of my favorite activities.
Even after years of living here we feel privileged to be living the dream.:pepper2: Come on down!!!

10 fatalities in golf carts? I had no idea. Where most of these involving a car?

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDave (Post 589949)

10 fatalities in golf carts? I had no idea. Where most of these involving a car?

No. You can find all the POA Bulletins here that have the accident reporting.
Property Owners, Association of Florida

I think if you go to any city of 80,000 + people no matter what the average age is you will have several accidents a day (not just car accidents but home based accidents like cuts, falls and e.t.c.) I think age has very little to do with it. I think it's just a numbers game. Plus the roads are public not just TV residents so that number goes up. I actually think the nuber of accidents (that I know about) are low when you consider the volume of traffic. Also I read once that the first recorded fatal car accident happened in a city that had just 2 cars and they colided at an intersection in the middle of the city, I don't remember what city, so I think you give people a way to hurt themselves and they will suceed no matter how old or young they are!

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrieb (Post 589905)

Sorry I did not mean to ruffle anyone's feathers. I too am a senior citizen but one that intends on going through a lenghtly process of selling my current house and then possibly buying in the Villages, supposedly the friendly town. This is my sixth visit to the Villages - came in June, came in August, and then the other times in December. Have not been here in January yet which I understand is very busy with so many renters and snowbirds here to camp out during the winter months. It just seems that there have been so many accidents since our arrival that my concern is maybe this is just too busy of an area that I would care to live in as the Villages grows to build out. That's why I am visiting here so much. I want to get a feel of the place to see if I want to call it home for the rest of my senior life. I appreciate the comments OldDave (my husband's name is Dave) and Golf Tinker. I apologize to the rest of you.

terrieb: In a Little Racalesque manner I say �h Shucks"" don't worry about those guys there just the usual politically correct villages squad"" that believe it is their life's work to defend all things that are The Villages

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDave (Post 589888)

Terri, I think your question is perfectly reasonable. I don't live there yet, so I cannot answer it. What I can tell you is that a significant number of people on this site get their dander up if you even suggest anything about TV isn't perfect. I continue to be amazed by that.

This question isn't worth a response? Then why did you respond. And why are you folks rude to someone who is obviously new and considering moving here.

We spent last June renting a house there. That is our only trip thus far. My understanding is that is the slowest time of the year. What we found was some pretty heavy traffic in a few areas, but mostly pretty light. There were a couple of things that were difficult. First and foremost the roundabouts or traffic circles. These in themselves are a good idea. They are prettier and less city-like than signals. But for some reason they are two lane circles. My guess is the traffic is heavy enough in the winter to justify it. The biggest problem I saw was that in most areas, you were allowed to make a right turn into a neighborhood from the left lane or the right line. But there was no indication that you had to turn from the right, as opposed to going straight. There are signs showing this, but they really don't make sense. I don't see any way to safely turn right from a left lane if the traffic in the right lane goes straight.

I don't know what happened in that accident. Someone mentioned the paper, but I didn't find anything in the on-line version. I will say that overall my wife and I were surprised at how fast many drivers were going both on the streets and the cart paths. For a community designed to be relaxing and enjoyable, I'm not sure why everyone was in such a hurry.

If I had to speculate on driving safety in TV, I would point to how tightly so many people are packed into the area there. Also, I've read a lot of comments here about snow birds causing some problems because they don't get used to driving here. I don't know if there is any validity to that.

As to the safety of older drivers, most of the research I've seen points to older folks as actually being safer and having less accidents. Of course there is always the person who should no longer be driving that runs over someone or hits gas instead of the brake. My feeling is that is one of the real reasons for all the golf carts here, so those people can get around, without driving a 4,000 pound car. Of course it seems there are a great many golf cart accidents, but the injuries generally seem much, much less serious.

Finally I would say during our month there we heard of no serious accidents and have heard of very few on here in the two years I've been reading it. It sounds like this was just a very bad week. Again, I don't know what happened Sunday.

Best of luck Terri.

You can't upset the Kool Aid Drinkers on this forum that's a No No

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldDave (Post 589949)

10 fatalities in golf carts? I had no idea. Where most of these involving a car?

Found this old thread:
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...f-carts-50007/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cantwaittoarrive (Post 589968)

Also I read once that the first recorded fatal car accident happened in a city that had just 2 cars and they colided at an intersection in the middle of the city, I don't remember what city, so I think you give people a way to hurt themselves and they will suceed no matter how old or young they are!

They were probably old people who were snowbirds in a roundabout in a local city called The Villages!

JUST KIDDING!!:pepper2:

What really happened?

Does anyone know what really happened? We were on the way to Savannah for the 6 o'clock performance but couldn't get through and police asked us to turn around. Looked like pretty bad accident and next day Daily Sun mentioned that two were taken by helicopter for this three car collision. Wished Daily Sun could have explained how the accident happened so we would avoid whatever happened to them when we cross or turn on 466 as we do often.

of course there are automobile accidents in The Villages.....almost 85,000 people live here..... I personally think there are significantly fewer car accidents here than any other city you could name with a population that large........

and remember, there are many other smaller retirement communities to buy into withing 30 miles of The Villages, but none of them have the same amenities or the same ambiance as TV.

Remember folks that 466, 441, 466a are all arterial highways that come through our community. MORE than just Villages residents use these! IF someone runs a light for instance you can bet there will be an accident of some kind. We have other communities very near us----Lady Lake, Leesburg, Wildwood for instance. Some of those folks come through as well. I know of many workers here in TV that live in Ocala and other communities. So don't blame the "old folks" for all of the accidents as I'd bet there are some folks from these who have been in some of them

My BIL works for a 911 in another state...he told us that the fire-trucks will always be the 1st responders as they carry the EMT's. The ambulance follows in case they need to transport. If there is a helicopter involved---they'll carry anyone who may have a traumatic injury to a hospital that's equipped for that.

We moved here from a small midwestern town of 12,000 population...I will tell you we heard sirens throughout the day and night there as well. Just saying.....

I don't know where the OP is coming from but I would ask....are there firetrucks, ambulances and police in his community?? There are more things to investigate about moving than the question posted here in my opinion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figmo Bohica (Post 589920)

Stop signs and yield signs and traffic lights are only suggestions in Florida
and TURN SIGNALS ARE AN OPTION.

Some people activate their turn signals a little early....

"" I told the nice policeman.....(after I was broadsided making a left)
...."I don't know why that dang fool tried to PASS me when I was turning...
........He should have known I was going to turn..
............I had my left blinker on for at least 2 miles.""

Direct QUOTE from my wife's Grandmom.

She drove 44 miles per hour IN the city and on the HIGHWAYS.
She said "it" (her BIG A$$ Buick) just felt right at 44 miles per hour.
(Accident happened on a 2 lane rural 55 MPH zone in the middle of nowhere....
...albeit this was 40 years ago,
.... we still see this all too often in 2012)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figmo Bohica (Post 589920)

Stop signs and yield signs and traffic lights are only suggestions in Florida and turn signals are an option.

Oh so true.....

22 Year Old Cited

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrieb (Post 589823)

We heard about what happened on Sunday night at Buena Vista and 466 with the low flying helicopters, overturned car etc.

This morning's Daily Sun has the story on the roll over accident which happened at the junction of 466 this past weekend. A 22 year old female has been cited for running a red light which caused the major pile up.

So to all those posters who worry so much about us old people being too old to drive, fear not, it's the youngsters you have to worry about!

Also, this past Monday, we were on 466 on our way back from Sam's Club when we saw a small red car jump the red light at the intersection of 466 and Morse Blvd, luckily the big SUV coming out of Morse was able to stop before hitting the very small red vehicle ............... The driver of the SUV was obviously very shaken, but continued on their way.