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Young Boy Dies in Daytona Beach Accident

The Volusia County Council has called for action to consider the safety of beach driving after the death of a four-year-old boy, which was the second fatality of a child on the beach in four months. 

Council members considered several options, including putting the issue before voters, commissioning a study to find ways to make the beach safer, or gradually ending beach driving.

The young victim was struck and run over by a truck as he ran toward the water near the Crawford Road beach approach in New Smyrna Beach. He was declared dead at the Bert Fish Medical Center. Our sympathies go out to his family. 
The boy's parents live in Deltona. The father is employed by Freedom Fire Protection in Sanford. The company has set up a trust fund for the family.

The highway patrol's investigation is ongoing.

Investigators do not believe the truck was speeding or that the driver suffered any impairment, but the driver has been cited for thirty-four traffic violations since 1994. These violations include failure to obey a traffic signal, speeding, and careless driving.

Investigations continue in the death of a young English girl on Daytona Beach last March. She was struck by a Georgia woman as she crossed busy traffic lanes.

Two other beach-goers have been struck this year, and several pedestrians are injured each year. This area is one of the few in the country that allows cars and other vehicles on the beach.

One councilman suggested the creation of more no-auto zones on the beach so that parents would not have to worry about their children being struck.

The councilman will pitch his idea at the next council meeting. 

County officials state that they cannot take cars off the beach since the county charter from 1986 guarantees the right to drive on the beach. Taking the cars off the beach would require that the county create adequate off-beach parking for beach-goers. 

A councilwoman suggested the adoption of a three- to five-year plan to provide more parking and take cars off the beach.
Several council members said they would support a council-wide referendum on the issue.

Beach driving is a long-standing tradition in Volusia County. Photos show horses and buggies on the beach long before cars were invented. Driving on the beach is allowed for about seventeen miles out of forty. 

Some residents with property near the beach support a ban on beach driving. Beachgoers have mixed feelings about a ban. Some wish the old tradition to continue, but some would support a ban.

One beach-goer stated that he believed the accident to be a fluke, and that accidents can be prevented by beefing up beach patrols on busy days like the weekend.

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