Lehigh Acres man wants a traffic light at dangerous intersection on SR-82

A man is fighting for a stoplight at a Lehigh Acres intersection where he and his family had a close brush with death.

Paul Torres said he and his family were involved in a crash on State Road 82 and Blackstone Drive — an intersection that has already proven to be a deadly one.

WINK News is waiting to hear back from the Florida Highway Patrol about the traffic crash, which was reported at 6 a.m. on Thursday.

Torres said he and his family are lucky to be alive. His kids, ages 4 and 6, are OK but one of them suffered whiplash. His wife suffered a concussion and his having a hard time with her memory. His vehicle was totaled, he said.

Torres’ glasses broke from the impact and the glass cut his face he said.

“It felt like a movie,” Torres said. “I saw all the white lights.”

Now, the father wants a redlight installed to keep another family from going through this same ordeal.

“Nobody deserves this,” Torres said.

A traffic light could save another family, he said.

“People have died right here and there’s no point to just letting this occur,” Torres added.

In 2018, a 30-year-old man died at the intersection after a woman failed to stop at the intersection before crossing State Road 82.  

Getting a stoplight is not an easy task. The state requires traffic studies and statistics.

However, Torres is determined.

“It makes you just wanna wake up and be a better person,” he said. “It makes you want to make sure this doesn’t happen to somebody else.”