A lone cross marks the passing of a motorist at the corner of Tamiami Trail and Chamberlin Boulevard. This intersection is one of the most dangerous in Charlotte County.
SUN PHOTO BY ROBERT YORK
PORT CHARLOTTE — Corey Tetrick was driving northeast along Chamberlain Boulevard on a late August Day in 2023. In his passenger seat was a cake he had baked with care. Baking was one of the perks of his job as a chef at the Villages on the Isle.
Tetrick approached the U.S. 41 intersection at Chamberlain and he found an opening between the fast-moving traffic.
He accelerated into the open space.
In an instant, a collision happened.
Tetrick died at the scene.
Statistically, U.S. 41 and Chamberlain Boulevard is Charlotte County’s most dangerous intersection. A total of six serious injuries and two fatalities have occurred there between 2023 and July 2026.
As the county experiences thousands of crashes each year, the Florida Department of Transportation continues to find ways to improve the most dangerous intersections. While no changes have been made at the Chamberlin intersection, other dangerous crossings are beginning to get the attention of safety experts and changes are being made.
The Latest vehicle accident statistics
Between 2023 and July 2026, there have been a total of 14,679 car crashes. Of those, 3.45% of car crashes were KSI — which indicates crashes that involve serious injuries or fatalities.
As of July, there have been 2,251 crashes in 2026.
According to 2023-2026 (July) data, the top five intersections that resulted in fatalities were:
U.S. 41 and Chamberlain BoulevardState Road 31 and Bermont RoadState Road 776 and David BoulevardKings Highway and U.S. 41SR 776 and Pinedale Drive
Every orange dot represents an accident. A red dot symbolizes a fatality. The bigger each dot, the greater amount of KSIs.
MAP CREATED BY JAMES STEPHENS. DATA FROM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
The total amount of car crashes every year between 2023 to July of 2026.
CHART CREATED BY JAMES STEPHENS. DATA FROM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
The total amount of car crash KSIs every year between 2023 to July of 2026.
CHART CREATED BY JAMES STEPHENS. DATA FROM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
The total amount of car crashes resulting in a serious injury every year between 2023 to July of 2026.
CHART CREATED BY JAMES STEPHENS. DATA FROM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
The total amount of car crashes resulting in a fatality every year between 2023 to July of 2026.
CHART CREATED BY JAMES STEPHENS. DATA FROM METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION
These intersections had a total of seven fatalities and 25 serious injuries. Three involved a bike or pedestrian.
All county car crashes are documented by the Charlotte County-Punta Gorda Metropolitan Planning Organization, a state-mandated agency responsible for transportation planning in areas with population over 50,000.
Cpl. Matthew Sill, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who has worked in the homicide unit for 11 years, said a common reason that fatal crashes occur at intersections with traffic lights are drivers trying to make the yellow light.
“They don’t quite get into the intersection prior to the light changing into red, and then traffic from the opposing lanes start to flow,” Sill said. “Then, we have an angular collision.
Another common reason for collisions are drivers failing to reduce speeds.
“Or, it is a front-to-rear collision, where the vehicle that’s in front is reducing speed to stop at the intersection, and then the vehicle behind does not reduce speed,” Sill said.
The median at U.S. 41 and Chamberlain Blvd. uses stop signs as the only barrier.
SUN PHOTO BY NICOLE DROEGER
Sill said median intersections like U.S. 41 and Chamberlain have crashes due to vehicles speeding.
“If you’re doing the 50 mph as you come around the curve, you should be able to observe traffic that’s either trying to turn left or trying to go straight,” Sill said. “Traffic that is either stopped at the intersection … should be able to have enough time to observe traffic and then make a reasonable decision whether or not they should enter the roadway.”
Vehicles speeding across U.S. 41 limit the reaction time of others either merging or crossing the intersection. Meanwhile, vehicles that do not properly yield to the posted stop signs can cause accidents as well.
Sill said drivers need to remain aware at all times.
“You have to drive as though there’s nothing else in that vehicle, nothing distracting you,” Sill said. “Focus completely on the roadway so that you can see all the traffic and everything that’s coming at you from all different directions.”
New safety measures deployed
FDOT has completed some roadway improvement projects over the past few years to combat fatal car collisions.
As a response to State Road 31 and Bermont Road’s crash record in eastern Charlotte County, FDOT installed a roundabout to replace the intersection’s four-way stop.
Included in the roundabout’s installation was the milling and resurfacing of the roadway, an updated drainage, the installation of new lighting and signs.
MPO Director Lakshmi N. Gurram confirmed that the fatalities along Bermont Road occurred before the roundabout.
“When you have a roundabout, the amount of fatalities and serious injuries go down drastically,” Gurram said.
“Roundabouts naturally lower vehicle speeds and eliminate high-speed angle and head-on collisions— the types of crashes most likely to cause serious injury or fatalities,” FDOT wrote via email.
The roundabout was completed on June 15. As of July 2026, there have been three crashes and no KSIs.
As the MPO continues to gather data, time will tell if fewer fatal crashes will occur at that intersection.
FDOT recently installed flexible traffic poles as a barrier for left-turn lanes in the median at SR 776 and David Blvd.
SUN PHOTO BY NICOLE DROEGER
FDOT also adjusted the median intersection at SR 776 and David Boulevard and in several other medians from Englewood to El Jobean. Rather than remaining as an open median, the intersection and others are now directional, only permitting left-turns at specific points along the road rather than allowing right-turn and straightaway access.
There are also flexible traffic poles installed along the left-turn lane that are luminescent at night.
In May 2023, FDOT completed a resurfacing and milling project along SR 776, from Pinedale Drive to the Myakka River Bridge. Sidewalk, guardrail and signage installations or upgrades were included in the project.
However, car crash KSIs have occurred since the project. There are no known future plans for the intersection.
The only project in progress along U.S. 41 and Chamberlain are the widening of sidewalks. FDOT said engineers are actively monitoring the intersection for future enhancements.
There are no known projects planned for Kings Highway and U.S. 41.
Though safety improvements have been made along dangerous roadways, any number of fatal car collisions are too many for the county.
“Road safety is a shared responsibility among all motorists, pedestrians and cyclists,” FDOT wrote. Achieving Target Zero — FDOT’s goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries on Florida roadways —requires a collective commitment from our entire community to make safe choices behind the wheel.”
Family Accounts
Corey A. Tetrick
Dustin (left) and Corey Tetrick (right).
PHOTO COURTESY OF DUSTIN TETRICK
Dustin Tetrick is Corey’s older brother. If Corey was still alive, he would be 35.
Although Corey was a picky eater as a kid, he expanded his tastes when he entered the workforce. He became a chef and worked extra hours at Villages.
“He was a hardworking, Florida native,” Dustin said. “We were born and raised here.”
When Dustin started his career as a personal trainer, Corey would schedule workouts with his brother.
On Aug. 27, 2023, Corey’s arm was feeling funny. Dustin told Corey to not worry about working out and to go straight home from his job.
That’s when Corey died in the car collision at U.S. 41 and Chamberlain Boulevard.
Dustin said that officers speculated that Corey was eating the cake he had in the passenger seat while driving.
Dustin didn’t think so.
“Corey always bought home food from work,” Dustin said. “He wouldn’t eat it beforehand.”
Dustin hired a lawyer to look into the incident. According to Dustin, the lawyer determined that the woman driving the car that collided with Corey’s drove up to 70 mph. The posted speed limit at that intersection is 50 mph.
Unfortunately, due to a lack of camera footage in the area, the details of the accident are unknown.
Corey’s celebration of life was catered by his old workplace. Dustin said Corey was loved at Villages, and their mother now works with the retirement home.
Dustin wants the intersection to be updated.
“I wish they would put up a light,” Dustin said. “It’s a dangerous intersection. Something needs to be done.”
Shane B. Twomey
Cameron (left), Shane (center) and Lily Twomey (right).
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHELLE DITTMER
Shane Twomey was a U.S. Marine who served in Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) during Bill Clinton’s presidency.
“He would help maintain the helicopters,” Michelle Dittmer, his ex-wife said. “When the president went overseas, he would work overtime.”
Unfortunately, Twomey had an issue with alcohol, Dittmer said, which is why she divorced him.
While Dittmer and her two daughters, Lily and Cameron, moved to Virginia, Twomey moved to Charlotte County as his family lived a few hours away in St. Petersburg.
Twomey worked on the helicopters at the Punta Gorda Airport. In 2022, Hurricane Ian displaced his home, causing Twomey and his three dogs, one registered as emotional support, to become homeless.
During this time, Twomey made the mistake to drive while intoxicated, resulting in a DUI arrest. After losing access to driving, Twomey decided to make a change.
Twomey rebuilt his relationship with his daughters. He finally found a home in summer of 2023, and was scheduled to move into it by September.
On Aug. 28, 2023, Twomey received a message that his dogs may have escaped where he had placed a tent. Twomey rode his electric bicycle toward the encampment.
A diagram of the accident where a car collided with Twomey’s e-bike.
CRASH REPORT
According to a crash report, Twomey failed to yield to traffic signs as he was turning right from U.S. 41 onto Kings Highway. At the same time, a man drove his vehicle through a red light while traveling straight through Kings Highway.
The driver collided with Twomey in the middle of the intersection. Twomey died on the scene.
“When it first happened, I was still in shock” Lily said. “No one expected this to happen, and it shouldn’t have happen like that.”
Officers on the scene did not conduct a sobriety test nor give the driver a traffic ticket.
“I was mad that the police didn’t seem to be doing much,” Dittmer said. “I still think that, if the hurricane hadn’t come the next day or so close to it, that more would have maybe been done.”
The driver’s family paid all the insurance claims and for the funeral.
“No amount of money can bring back my dad,” Lily said. “That’s not much of a punishment to the driver. I understand he probably regrets it, but the fact that nothing came of it made me mad.”
Twomey’s ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery was in April 2024. His ashes are buried there today.
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Dittmer said. “Everyone deserves the same level of respect and investigation if they were a victim of something.”
“Be cautious when driving,” Lily said. “If something can be done at that intersection, it can save someone’s life.”