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FOR HEATHER "SHE WILL BE HURD"

Hwy 27 is a transit route that extends from the Miami, Florida area north to Michigan. In the last century certain sections of Hwy 27 in lower Florida were nicknamed Bloody 27. This was due to the excessive death rate and personal injury accidents. Much of Hwy 27 in Florida has traveled into this century and become safer. There is a stretch of Hwy 27 from Haines City, Florida northward to the Polk County line that TRAGICALLY lives up to the nickname, Bloody 27. Law enforcement has labeled this highway Death Alley and young school children call it Death Valley. A sad commentary. This part of the highway is in the unincorporated sector of Davenport, Florida because this area of Davenport, Florida is unincorporated. There is no one to go to bat for the thousands and thousands of residents, communities and businesses that now line Hwy 27 and enter directly onto a highway with the interstate speeds of 65 mph and illegally much higher. Law enforcement agencies are overworked and with no town to govern this area or request extra help for us, the traffic conditions are insane, frenzied, and all too often deadly. The FDOT changed four lanes to six lanes. The FDOT put several traffic lights in place without the proper signage to give warning of an impending light. This is just the type of spot, just two miles from her home, where Heather Hurd and her fiancé were stopped at a light at 11:30 a.m. along with 10 other cars. The day was sunny, the air was clear. A tractor trailer driver traveling at what is speculated to be in excess of 70 mph, and alleged to be texting, saw no signs warning of “Intersection head with Traffic Light”; no flashing lights on the incline and took his eyes off the road. He slammed into those cars stopped at the light. Unsuspecting people, going to lunch; going to work; going to attractions in our tourist area; and Heather, going to the wedding planner. Heather was on her way to meet her parents to perpetuate her dream. Heather worked at her dream, Disneyworld. Heather’s parents were waiting for her at the wedding planner so she could be married in the place of her childhood dreams. Her blue car, the color of Stitch, her favorite Disney character, was crushed by the speeding tractor trailer. Heather died instantly while her parents waited for her at the Wedding Planner. They found out she died four and a half hours later while frantically searching for news. Her fiancé as well as others was critically injured. A young nurse and mother were also needlessly killed that day. Although we have worked for years to bring these deplorable, unmonitored traffic conditions to the attention of the powers that be, we have been ignored. The statistics tell the truth. In this 15 mile stretch of Bloody 27 there were 147 accidents just in 2007 as reported by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office. This does not include Florida Highway Patrol statistics or Haines City PD statistics. We began the New Year with five deaths in January of 2008 that we are aware of. The WHISPERS OF ANGELS and LOST SOULS are begging us to bring safety to this area. We have been virtually ignored even though the statistics give irrefutable evidence that something is very sick in a system that allows this type of carnage and does not see, or for some other reason, they do not want to see, what is happening here. To quote Russ Hurd, “We all have a Heather in our lives, your son, your daughter, your husband, wife, grandmother, on and on. Save your Heather so you may hug them one more day “Help us to fight the ignorance that prevents this stretch of Bloody 27 from coming out of the dark ages. Everyone we meet, that lives in this area, has a horror story or experience to tell about Bloody 27. E mail those stories to us, please. E mail your representative, your commissioner, Gov. Crist, our state Senator Paula Dockery etc. This highway is federally funded. E mail your US Senators and US Senator Daniel Inouye who head the US Dept of Transportation Committee. Please electronically sign the bill to stop text messaging while driving. Feel the flutter of angel wings on your cheeks and protect your Heather; for in a split second we can all loose our Heather in a split second on Bloody 27.

Marcia

stitch@4heather.com