County ranks 15th among state’s 67 counties for such incidents
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office has been awarded a Highway Traffic Safety Funds subgrant “to target speeding and aggressive driving on Interstate 75,” the agency has announced.
“This initiative aims to reduce the number of crashes and enhance safety for all motorists traveling through Sarasota County,” a news release points out.
“Sarasota County ranks 15th among Florida counties with a population of 300,000 or more for speed and aggressive driving incidents resulting in serious and fatal injuries,” the release says. In response, the Sheriff’s Office “will implement high-visibility, zero-tolerance enforcement operations along the I-75 corridor, promoting adherence to traffic laws,” the release adds.
As of Nov. 14, a Sarasota News Leader review of the Florida Traffic Safety Dashboard found data for Sarasota County incidents for this year through September. With a total of 4,564 crashes having occurred, only 28 serious injuries were reported and no fatalities.
The total number of serious injuries recorded in 2024 in crashes handled by the Sheriff’s Office was 68, the dashboard shows; only one fatality was recorded last year.
Another dashboard graph that makes it clear that Friday is the day of the week when the majority of serious injuries had been recorded through September: 11. Sunday incidents accounted for only one serious injury in a crash, the graph notes.
The peak time for injuries with serious crashes through September was 3 p.m., a third graph shows. The count was five.
The new enforcement campaign is scheduled to run from this month until the end of September 2026, the Sheriff’s Office news release continues.
“This effort is funded through a contract with the Florida Department of Transportation, which supports overtime for deputies involved in data-driven, high-visibility enforcement activities,” the release explains.
“The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office urges all drivers to comply with posted speed limits, avoid impaired or distracted driving, and manage emotions while driving to ensure safer roads for everyone,” the release adds.
The Florida Law Enforcement Liaison Program website points out, “Subgrants are available to state and local safety-related agencies as ‘seed’ funding to assist in developing and implementing programs targeting traffic safety priority areas. Funding for these subgrants is allocated annually by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) using a formula based on population and road miles. Occasionally, additional funding may be available for projects in other program areas if there is documented evidence of a specific, identified problem.”
The website adds, “The Florida Highway Safety Matrices were developed to provide an objective, data-driven method for prioritizing safety projects in counties and cities within the top 40 percent of fatalities and serious injuries.”