Few other counties, states let vehicles drive on beaches

Ludmilla Lelis

Besides Volusia, beach driving is allowed in at least five other Florida counties, as well as Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, according to a federal report.

Included among those are eight national parks that permit off-road vehicles, including Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina, Padre Island National Seashore in Texas and Cumberland Island National Seashore in Georgia, according to National Park Service officials.

Cape Cod seashore north-district Ranger Craig Thatcher said there have been no motor-vehicle accidents at his park in the past seven years, but the practice is strictly managed, with drivers of off-road vehicles paying $150 for a pass to access the beach. The park service limits the number of permitted vehicles there to 3,400 a year.

Cape Hatteras Chief Ranger Paul Stevens said that during his 22 years at the national park, there have been two crashes in which a pedestrian had minor injuries.

Accidents and safety concerns have prompted other beaches to end, or sharply curtail, driving on their sand.

State-park officials ended beach driving at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine in 2000 after two accidents, the first in which two 16-year-old Pennsylvania girls, lying on their towels, suffered head injuries when they were run over by a vehicle.

One of the women, Megan Hamlin, remains in a vegetative state, and her family settled with the driver and his insurance company for $17.5 million. The driver was cited for careless driving.

After a second accident in which a 5-year-old girl suffered minor injuries, state-park officials shut down all driving at the Anastasia park.

--

Source: Orlando Sentinel

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites