Residents in Apopka Complain about Frequent Accidents

A woman from Apopka was alarmed on Sunday morning when she heard a loud crashing sound from outside her home. She rose from the spot on her couch where she had been breastfeeding her baby and looked out the window. Right in front of her mailbox, which sits beside Lake Francis Drive, she saw an overturned car, the wheels still spinning. Shortly afterwards, a young woman crawled out of one of the car’s windows.

The woman called the police both to report the incident and to complain about the frequency with which accidents happen on Lake Francis Drive. It seems that drivers commonly use the residential street as a shortcut between Zellwood-Sorrento and Apopka, and that these drivers do not care too much about obeying the posted speed limits. The woman who witnessed the aftermath of the collision with her mailbox told police that her street and the nearby yards were now unsafe, a fact even more disturbing given the number of children in the neighborhood.

It seems that the police took the woman’s concerns seriously, and the next day officers with radar guns were posted outside, monitoring the passing cars. Over three cars were pulled over throughout the day as the on-duty officers confirmed the observations of the woman: cars were indeed traveling well over the posted limit along Lake Francis drive.

Doug Bankson, a councilperson for Apopka, issued a statement attempting to define just why this particular street saw so many speeding cars and accidents as well as outline the efforts that police would make to solve the problem. Bankson claims that part of the issue stems from the intersection of city roads with county roads, which creates difficulties around jurisdiction. Basically, everyone thinks that someone else is taking care of things, resulting in no one actually taking care of them.

In the accident involving the flipped car and the destroyed mailbox, the girl driving the vehicle was described as being 19-years-old. She was not named, however the statement from the Florida Highway Patrol indicated that she was arrested at the scene and charged with property damage as well as a DUI.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.