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

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- 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/)

According to the 2011 annual report from The Villages Public Safety Department during the time frame of October 1, 2010 to September 30, 2011 the dept responded to 5,546 EMS (medical) calls. The #1 category was for Falls with Trauma at 951 calls. #9 on the list was Motor Vehicle Accidents, which includes golf carts, at 221 responses.

See pages 13 & 14 on the link below if you want more info.
Village Community Development Districts

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. Then yesterday, 12/4, we were on our way to Sumter Landing for dinner around 4:30p when there were many sirens, EMS's, farther on up 466 as we were attempting to get on Morse Blvd, took a detour down another road and I am wondering (as a prospective buyer in the Villages), is this a norm in the Villages? I know where there are people there are accidents but these accidents seem to be "extreme" accidents vs. "fender-benders". More people living here than back home but I am wondering with so many drivers 55+ of various skills or skills where maybe they should not be driving anymore, maybe the accidents would be more frequent. We are currently doing our research for moving to the Villages and having been here before in December, this place seems so much busier than we remember.....is the population growing that fast here? Like I said, just doing our research like the rest of you did before you moved here.

I don't think your question was unreasonable at all. The two accidents happening so close together seemed to be a coincendence and as you may have heard by now the Sunday accident was caused by a 22 year old running a red light. It is statistically proven that older drivers do cause more accidents though not as many as the youngest drivers. That is why many insurance companies raise their rates once a driver becomes 70. I find it particularly hazardous backing out of parking spaces here at the large parking lots. No, I am not bashing orders driver because I happen to be one but I am stating a reality. We have bicycles, golf carts and construction traffic added to the mix. My opinion is that one must be extra vigilant when driving here because there are many distractions but I do not think it is unsafe. I love living here and do not miss big city expressways at all. You are wise to look at all aspects of living in any new location and only YOU can decide what is best for YOU.

Wow, are some folks so delusional as to think that the number of auto accidents doesn't increases with age. The two biggest age groups for accidents is under twenty and over 60! It's not a puzzle. 80,000 people and most are in the second age group is going to mean a chance for more car accidents. I will say thought, that it could be lower because many people only drive golf carts, but there are quite a few of those also. Geesh.....it's not an attack, it's just common sense and statistics. (I know, the next post will be something about how statistics lie....)

Quote:

Originally Posted by terrieb (Post 589823)

terrieb:
I would tend to think that one would be wise to learn how to negotiate roundabouts the proper way. Accidents are caused by many reasons. One would be wise to be aware and drive defensively no matter where they are.

IMHO -I sometimes get concerned when hearing of these accidents. No one can guaranteed they won't happen. I think the anount of accidents are small, compared to the population in TV. I would not accidents from stopping me from moving to TV. Like I said, accidents can happen anywhere.

I was told by my southern family that all the accidents in FL are caused by Yankees like me.

:beer3:

Quote:

Originally Posted by senior citizen (Post 590273)

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY ALL I COULD FIND FOR TV. SO , THERE IS NOT A BIG DEAL TO WORRY ABOUT.
FATALITIES FROM TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS SEEM EXTREMELY LOW.....EVEN THOUGH TV ENCOMPASSES MANY COUNTIES.

Fatal road traffic accident statistics for 1975 - 2009 (per 100,000 population)

0
400
800
1,200
1,600
2,000

Count
Vehicles
Drunken Drivers
Fatalities
Persons
Pedestrians

The Villages
Florida average

The Villages, Florida:

Fatal accident count: 1
Vehicles involved in fatal accidents: 2
Fatal accidents caused by drunken drivers: 0
Fatalities: 1
Persons involved in fatal accidents: 0
Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents: 0

Florida average:

Fatal accident count: 155
Vehicles involved in fatal accidents: 237
Fatal accidents caused by drunken drivers: 50
Fatalities: 168
Persons involved in fatal accidents: 414
Pedestrians involved in fatal accidents: 27

The Villages fatal accident list:

Dec 9, 2007 01:30 PM, Bella Cruz, Banderos, Lat: 28.952236, Lon: -81.958986, Vehicles: 2, Fatalities: 1

Read more: The Villages, Florida (FL 32159) profile: population, maps, real estate, averages, homes, statistics, relocation, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, moving, houses, news, sex offenders

Does seem rather small..........after all your hype!!

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.

Nice response, Old Dave. It's always nice to read an informative response that educates and explains with simple courtesy. As a "newbie" to the area, I appreciate your post!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2BNTV (Post 590411)

You are always such a gentleman. Nice post.

Thanks Justjac, and welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by coconutmama (Post 590612)

You are always such a gentleman. Nice post.

Thank you so very much. :smiley: