Broward Bans Begging At 20 Busy Intersections
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - Nearly two dozen of the busiest intersections in Broward County are now off limits to beggars and people trying to sell you flowers or bags of fruit.
On Tuesday, the county's commission passed an ordinance prohibiting vendors and solicitors from intersections identified in a county study as having the highest traffic volumes in the unincorporated areas.
Not only does the ordinance cover guys collecting money for the homeless, those out of work and looking for a few bucks and flower/produce sellers, it also includes children and adults collecting money for school and community activities.
The commission said the overall goal of the ordinance is to save lives by reducing the number of vehicle accidents involving pedestrians.
"We did this in Hollywood in 2001 and we documented how many newspaper vendors had actually been killed. Because of free speech, we had to limit the law to vendors and it's held up since then. I'm happy to support this," said Commissioner Beam Furr in a statement.
Furr formerly served on the Hollywood City Commission.
According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 197 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle accidents in Broward County from 2011 to 2014. In Florida, 2,075 pedestrians were killed during the same period.
Under the proposed ordinance solicitors and vendors are prohibited at the following intersections:
• State Road 84 and University Drive
• State Road 84 and Flamingo Road
• State Road 84 and Pine Island Road
• Sunrise Boulevard and NW 31st Avenue
• Sunrise Boulevard and NW 27th Avenue
• Sunrise Boulevard and NW 24th Avenue
• State Road 7 and SW 20th Street
• State Road 84 and Davie Road
• State Road 84 and 136th Avenue
• Broward Boulevard and SW 27th Avenue
• State Road 7 and Davie Boulevard
• Broward Boulevard and NW 31st Avenue
• State Road 84 and Nob Hill Road
• Federal Highway (U.S. 1) and Griffin Road
• Davie Boulevard/Davie Boulevard Extension and Peters Road
• Peters Road and NW 46th Avenue
• Coconut Creek Parkway/Hammondville Road and NW 3st Avenue
• State Road 84 and Hiatus Road
• NW 31st Avenue and NW 6th Street
• NW 27th Avenue and NW 6th Street
Other intersections in the unincorporated areas of Broward County could be added to the ordinance in the future based upon further study and analysis.