HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) – Fifteen people have died in car accidents along Texas Flat Road in the last three years, and residents are asking when something will be done to make the road safer.<\/p>\n
The 13-mile stretch has recorded more than 150 accidents in the past five years, despite having almost no turns.<\/p>\n
Hancock County Sheriff John Alison said Texas Flat Road stands out among the county\u2019s roads for its fatality rate.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have that many accidents on 43, which is another 2-lane highway. We don\u2019t seem to have the fatality rate that we have on that particular highway,\u201d Alison said.<\/p>\n
Alison said drivers on the road tend to speed and drive carelessly. He said radar access would be the most effective tool to address the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe speed is a contributing factor. If we could slow them down and just get people running 55 instead of running 85, it would definitely be a big help,\u201d Alison said.<\/p>\n
More than 20 bills have been proposed since 2000 in Mississippi to give sheriffs radar access, but all have failed to reach the Governor\u2019s desk. Senate Bill 2614, the only sheriff radar bill to make it out of committee since the turn of the century, was tabled nearly two weeks ago.<\/p>\n
Richard Bouchard, who lost his 14-year-old grandson Ayden in a Texas Flat Road accident last year, has become an advocate for sheriff\u2019s radar in any capacity. His proposal, named \u2018Ayden\u2019s Law\u2019 or Senate Bill 2616, was pitched, but did not make it out of the committee.<\/p>\n
\u201c99% of those who speed, there is not going to be a problem, but the odds do catch up to you or catch up to other people,\u201d Bouchard said.<\/p>\n
After another round of sheriff radar bills failed to reach the governor\u2019s desk, Bouchard said the consequences could extend to others.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome cataclysmic tragedy in which numbers of children are killed or injured,\u201d Bouchard said, when asked what it would take for legislators to pass a sheriff radar bill.<\/p>\n
Bouchard said that without action to deter speeding, accidents on Texas Flat Road will continue.<\/p>\n