Central Florida residents say dump trucks are dangerous

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Updated Jun 26, 2016

Police in Winter Garden, Fla. are now getting some help from the Florida Highway Patrol at a busy intersection where residents say dump truck drivers have been ignoring traffic laws and driving dangerously.

Winter Garden Police report that dump truck drivers were on their best behavior after they stepped up patrols near Stoneybrook West Parkway and Marsh Road, according to orangeobserver.com.

However, when police left, they said truck drivers would resort back to speeding and using the left-turn lane to drive straight through the intersection.

“We’ve gone out and worked on enforcing it in order to try to reduce it,” Lt. Scott Allen said. “It’s just very difficult when you’re dealing with commercial vehicles, because they seem to communicate about what’s going on, so we get out there and start working, but they very quickly know that we’re out there and they slow down and start doing the right thing until we leave.”

Police turned to the Florida Highway Patrol for help who are now helping to patrol the target area, which was labeled as such by police given the ongoing traffic violations there.

A dump truck driver who spoke on condition of anonymity said that truck drivers are being unfairly criticized.

“There’s a lot of people complaining about truck drivers, and I don’t think it’s fair,” he said. “They should look at themselves also, because I see a lot of cars and SUVs driving a little aggressively on the road in that area.”

Dump truck drivers have been driving through the community to deliver dirt to a highway project on Interstate 4. The route has long been used by truckers.

“There’s a minority in our industry … (who) are driving aggressively,” the truck driver said. “It’s always the minority that ruins it for the majority.”

(Google Maps image)

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