Goal is to reduce crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists
On Aug. 10, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office launched a new “High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) initiative aimed at reducing traffic crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists,” the agency announced.
As it has in recent years, Sarasota County continues to rank in the top 25 counties in Florida for traffic crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists, a news release explains. “To protect the safety of vulnerable road users,” the release points out, the Sheriff’s Office “will conduct HVE details to increase awareness of and compliance with traffic laws that protect the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. Enforcement efforts will focus primarily on education; however, violations may result in warnings or citations,” the release notes.
These details will continue through May 7, 2027, focusing “on predetermined locations based on statistical crash data,” the release explains. These areas are as follows:
- Bahia Vista Street from Graber Avenue to Tara Vista Avenue.
- Tamiami Trail South from Gulf Gate Drive to Upper Elmwood Avenue.
- Midnight Pass Road from Seaside Drive to north of Casa Mar.
- Tamiami Trail South from Pocono Trail East to Albee Road East.
- Tamiami Trail South from West Seminole Drive to Shamrock Drive.
- Tamiami Trail South from Englewood Road to Alligator Drive.
- Tamiami Trail South Bayshore Road to Gulf Avenue.
- Bee Ridge Road from Beneva Road to McIntosh Road.
- Beneva Road from Tamiami Trail South to Sarasota Square Boulevard.
- Fruitville Road from McIntosh Road to Richardson Way.
- Tamiami Trail South from Blackburn Point Road to East Bay Street.
- Tamiami Trail South from Collins Road to Roberts Road.
- State Road 776 from Church Avenue to West Fray Street.
- University Parkway from Tuttle Avenue to Lockwood Ridge Road.
The funding for the effort is provided through a contract with the University of North Florida and the Institute of Police Technology and Management, in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation, the release explains. The Sheriff’s Office will receive money for overtime hours so its personnel can “conduct operations and special training on Florida’s bicycle and pedestrian laws, procedures, and best practices,” the release says.
Last year, when the Sheriff’s Office received funding for an HVE campaign, the top two areas were the same as above for this latest initiative, as The Sarasota News Leader reported at that time.
In 2024, when the Sheriff’s Office scheduled HVE details as a result of receiving money through the same funding mechanism, the top area of concern was Bahia Vista from Graber Avenue to Ingram Avenue. As with the segment designated for details in 2025 and this year, that portion of Bahia Vista is within the predominantly Amish and Mennonite community of Pinecraft. Many of the residents and visitors to that area routinely walk or use bicycles to reach their destinations, as this writer has observed over the past two decades.
The 2025 FDOT average daily traffic count for the segment of Bahia Vista Street in the area of Graber Avenue, east to Beneva Road, was 15,000, the News Leader learned; east of the Beneva intersection, heading toward Tara Vista Avenue, the count fell to 11,200.
Regular users of The Legacy Trail biking and pedestrian route in that area routinely observe heavy traffic during the morning and afternoon/evening rush hours.
“Drivers are encouraged to always obey speed limits, never drive impaired, and watch out for pedestrians and bicyclists,” the Sheriff’s Office news release stresses. “Bicyclists should obey traffic laws, ride in the direction of traffic, and use lights at night,” it adds. “Pedestrians are asked to cross in crosswalks or at intersections, obey pedestrian signals, and make sure they are visible to drivers when walking at night,” it notes.