At his press conference yesterday, Mayor D.C. Reeves shared that the city has already recorded 10 traffic fatalities in 2025, with four months remaining in the year. The highest annual total over the past five years was just eight fatalities.
The Numbers Tell a Troubling Story
The data reveals disturbing patterns that city officials must address. Of the 10 fatalities recorded so far, eight were directly attributed to speeding, and six involved motorcycles.
- Most alarming: Three of those motorcycle fatalities occurred at the same location: the intersection of 14th and Gregory, which serves as the off-ramp for the Chappie James Bridge.
Interim Police Chief Kristin Brown and city officials have identified this area as a critical concern. The bridge’s design has created conditions where drivers naturally accelerate, with little infrastructure in place to encourage speed reduction.
- Mayor Reeves said, “You can understand where there’d be some speed happening there because there really isn’t anything to slow folks down.”
City officials are coordinating with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to develop solutions. The Pensacola Police Department plans to deploy speed trailers and increase enforcement in this high-risk area.
Red Light Camera Results Show Mixed Progress
Six months into Pensacola’s red light camera program, the results paint a complex picture. The cameras are issuing an average of 97 citations daily, with two intersections standing out as particular problem areas. The intersection at 9th and Bayou accounts for 31% of all citations, while 9th and Gregory represents 34% of violations despite monitoring only one traffic approach.
- Interestingly, June marked the second-lowest month for citations since the program began, suggesting some improvement in driver behavior. However, July saw a concerning spike in violations, indicating that sustained public awareness efforts remain crucial.
Community Awareness Campaign Ahead
To combat what Mayor Reeves called “egregious violations,” the city released video footage showing the severity of red light running incidents. “Sometimes when you don’t see how egregious these violations are, you assume that someone was three inches over the line and got a ticket. That is a rarity.”
Complex is right! The red light cameras do NOTHING to stop tragic red light running. The people running those red light cameras in the video have clearly blanked out or don’t care and the camera does nothing to stop them. I m all for sending tickets to these people; however, 99.9% of the the red light camera violations are not this blatant. These vast majority violators just barely run the red light while the oncoming traffic light is still red under a delay. These violations pose absolutely no threat to anyone, but the city just wants their money because they can. It’s all about designing these intersections in a way that reduces the inkling to run the red light. That is how you make them safer, not through fear of a ticket.