Car Crash at HWY 283 and Hwy 98

[Smiling JOe]

At a glance, it looks like everyone is alright, but it sure is scary. I know many of you people will be coming to the beach soon, and I would like to remind you to please pay attention to driving. We have traffic lights for a reason, and for whatever reason, some people decide pretend that the 45 mph speed limit, the yellow flashing lights and the traffic light (lit red) doesn't pertain to them. Also, I would like to remind locals who are anxious to get to where they are going to forget about trying to get there faster. We are on beach time around here and there is no one in this world who cannot wait an extra minute for the light to turn green.

I was in front of this car which got creamed by the red light runner who was traveling on 98. My camera was on the seat and when I saw it in my rearview mirror, I quickly turned around and took the shot. You can see that the north south traffic on 283 still had a yellow light when I took the photo, only maybe 10 seconds after the crash.

Please put on your driving caps, hang up the cell phone, stop taking notes while driving, ignore the kids arguing, forget about looking at all of the bikini-clad girls while in the car, at least somewhat follow the speedlimit, especially at these major intersections on 98. Let's spread the word to pay attention and change our driving habits, which usually have nothing to do with the actual act of driving. There are too many people down here that I love, and I don't want to see them die, not to mention the ones I haven't met yet. I see little kids on bicycles shooting out behind big parked cars in Seaside, and I just know what is going to happen. It is sad to think that people have to die to change our driving habits, but I encourage us all to think about the deadly potential we have in our autos.

EDIT: after having a moment to clear my thoughts, I may have jumped to conclusions about this crash. I did not actually see the crash, but it caught my eye in the rearview mirror. I don't know that it involved a vehicle traveling on hwy 98. It could very well have been that both cars were traveling in opposite directions on Hwy 283. I am almost a part of crashes there once a week, as many drivers do not know to yield to oncoming vehicles prior to turning across the path of the oncoming traffic. Sorry if I jumped the gun, but either way, people need to learn how to drive and remember those skills when behind the wheel.

 

[Bobby J]

Thanks SJ! Every time there is a wreck up there I get sick!!! People please slow down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to forward your message to my girls!

 

[Indigo Jill]

I was just coming home from the yoga studio when I got into bumper to bumper traffic due to the accident - this is my turn off for home and I knew my husband was on his way too - my heart was pounding as I inched closer to the scene. When I was close enough and saw it wasn't his car, my next thought was I sure hope it wasn't someone I know.

I, too, SJ, have had a few heart stopping near misses when I haven't done my due diligence and looked before going through my green light and been witness to even more near misses at 331/98, 283/98 AND 395/98. I also was on 30A/83 at the stop sign (by your offices, Bobby!) about 3 weeks ago when I was about to turn onto 30a and a woman on a cell phone totally ran the stop sign! Low and behold, there was a cop going the opposite direction and made a quick U turn and pulled her over.

I really think the use of cell phones and TVs/DVDs for the kids in a car should be banned. So much fumbling can take place dealing with both. Even a GPS can take too much attention away from a driver - all it takes is a split second for an accident to happen. We all need to be defensive drivers - don't proceed on a green light without looking in both directions! It's too risky. I hope those involved in this crash today are ok. Any word?

 

[Paula]

SJ and others: Thanks for posting these accident reports on this website. It reminds me to let our guests who stay at our cottages know to drive safely and not to relax safe driving rules while on vacation and to stay vigilent.

I, too, am anti-cell phone use in the car and have been for years. Our kids know that we never use cell-phones while driving and we "harumph" when we see other people doing it. So, let's hope that we're passing those attitudes to the kids so that when they're ready to drive, they'll be safer drivers. I think we're creating a whole generation of 16-20 year olds who not only will be new at driving, they'll be novices using cell phones while driving because that's what they've been taught to do

I must admit we have a VCR in the van for the back seat. The driver never adjusts the VCR (only the passenger -- usually me). Are they still considered unsafe (I think of them as like the radio, as long as the driver doesn't fidget with the controls).

 

[ShallowsNole]

Was this the accident on Monday afternoon? It would have been about 6 pm, as I had been home from work about an hour. Fuzz was outside and heard the sirens and thought 283/98 was where it was. A few minutes later, LifeFlight passed over and landed over there. Oddly enough, especially if LifeFlight was called, FHP's traffic report page never showed a Walton County incident, nor has there been any media reports. I hope everyone's okay.

 

[Smiling JOe]

According to the time stamp on my photos, the accident happend at 6:05pm on Monday afternoon.

 

[sunspotbaby]

Just a little info I heard on the radio...

If you're traveling at 60 Mph and you take your eyes off the road for 3 seconds, you've traveled the distance of a FOOTBALL FIELD by the time you look back at the road. pretty amazing!

 

[Indigo Jill]

That's just about right - I got to the scene at around 620 pm and I too saw a helicopter flying over the area (didn't know if it was leaving or passing by or if it was LifeFlight??)

 

[organicmama]

I have to agree with all the warnings. Today, someone (local tags) passed me on 30-A, just coming off 98 before Flamingo Village. There was absolutely no reason to do so, as s/he had to be going about 60, which is WAY over the speed limit. Also, I actually had a fellow SoWaller speed by & cut in on 98 east bound from SanDestin, where the 3 lanes merge to 2 lanes. Life isn't worth being in that much of a hurry. Heck, these days you have to be careful in the Publix parking lot because so many people don't know/care where they are going.

I sound like such a whiner about this, but all I can think of is something happening to my family (or someone else's family) because of impatience & lack of judgment. And it's what I don't miss about Atlanta's horrid traffic... or UGA's football games.