Fort Myers tops FDOT list for speeding, aggressive driving

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A newly-released list by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) ranks Fort Myers as the worst medium-sized city for speeding and aggressive driving.

“There was 96 cities in it and Fort Myers was listed as number 1,” said Zachary Burch with FDOT.

Burch says the agency hopes to figure out what exactly is causing the frustration on the roads and find a way to bring it to a stop.

“When you improve the traffic flow, where drivers aren’t sitting at lights for two or three signals, they tend not to get as frustrated,” Burch said. “Maybe not make some of the frustrated decisions that they make, like when they are stuck behind slow traffic.”

“The stop lights hold forever, so I know why people run stop lights because if you don’t make the stop lights, you’re going to sit there several minutes,” said Priscilla Lunsford.

Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson and the Fort Myers City Council are requesting a $62,000 grant to help increase patrols on roads, like Colonial Boulevard, and to educate the public.

“The stresses of the week contribute to a more undesirable driving pattern,” said Henderson. “It’s only going to take a few people getting tickets and having some expensive consequences to say ‘wow, I better behave.'”

Officials are hoping to find a way to slow down the speeders while figuring out how to stop the headaches.

“I get agitated,” said Samantha Lacey, “I don’t like it when people try and drive in the left lane, like when you’re behind them. It’s a passing lane.”

“We have evolved into a community of impatient drivers,” Henderson added. “We’ve got a lot of priorities enforcing our laws on the books. This is going to have to move up closer to the front.”

If the City Council is approved to receive the grant, the funds should come in by October.