Boca cop stops 110-mph driver after leaving safety meeting

By Dale M. King
CITY EDITOR

Boca Raton Police Officer Adam Reisner had just sat through a concept meeting for the “Staying Alive on I-95” traffic safety initiative when he got into his cruiser and headed back to that busy highway.

He had barely reached the road when he spotted a car soaring past him.  He gave chase, pulled him over and issued a speeding citation to the motorist who was clocked at 110 mph between Yamato Road and Congress Avenue.

"Many times, driving on I-95 turns out to be a bad adventure,” said Irv Slosberg, a former state representative who lobbied heavily for highway safety during his six-year tenure – and has continued since leaving.

The former rep created the Dori Slosberg Foundation – named for his daughter killed in a car crash in 1996. The organization is teaming up with regional law enforcement officers, Geico Insurance, the Florida Department of Transportation and the State Attorney's Office to press for more safety improvements.

The Foundation has already had two “concept” meetings, in Miami and in Boca Raton. Tara Kirschner, the Foundation’s executive director, said the goal is to “find ideas and solutions to improve safety conditions on I-95.”

Saturation Patrols

Coincidentally, Officer Reisner wasn’t the only one to encounter bad driver after leaving the meeting.  Several departments held “saturation patrols” afterward. 

During that four- to six-hour period, participating departments made three drunken driving arrests and issued 78 seat belt violations, 12 child restraint violations, 280 speeding tickets, 27 citations for suspended or revoked license and made five uninsured motorist arrests.

Sixty-three speeding tickets were issued just in the enhanced penalty zone that runs along I-95, on the northbound and southbound sides, from Delray Beach through Boynton Beach.

"To write 63 citations for such excessive speeds in a matter of four emphasizes the need for events such as this one,” said Major Frank Briganti of the Boynton Beach Police Department.  “We need to get the officers out on I-95 because without police presence, the lives of citizens are in danger.”

Captain William Patrick Kenny, commander of the Traffic Division from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, cited declining crash and fatality statistics in the county as “a good indication of what we can accomplish with more officers out patrolling our highways.

“In 2006, we had 1,525 car crashes and 29 fatalities on I-95,” he said, “compared to 2007, where we dropped to 1,341 crashes and 16 fatalities.”  He said he was citing preliminary data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles.