LUTZ, Fla. — Neighbors who live along a rural two-lane road in Lutz worry about their safety saying it's more like a highway, and during rush hour it's practically a parking lot.
Neighbors have been able to get the county to install sidewalks and paint double yellow lines to cut down on cars passing each other, but they say growth in the area has made this road too busy.
“It's become too much,” said Bruce Kiper, who says people need to slow down.
The speed limit on Sunset lane is 40 miles per hour.
“The speeding goes on and on and on,” he said. "Since my children got hit here and I had to pry them out of the truck in my front yard, it's been an issue for me.”
It’s a straight shot from U.S. 41 to Livingston Avenue, with just one stop sign in between.
"It's a very favorite shortcut to get to Wesley Chapel,” said Kiper. He says numerous people have been rear-ended as they pull into their driveways.
Cody Smith, another neighbor that lives along the road, was t-boned when someone tried to pass him.
“It actually moved my driver's seat into my passenger seat,” he said. He showed me pictures of the crash. His car split a wooden pole in half.
Kiper even bought a special mailbox to avoid going near the road.
"I can stand here on the sidewalk and open the door from the back and retrieve my mail,” he said.
They want the speed limit lowered and they’d like to see more law enforcement officers out here. Smith says the speed limit on Livingston drops to 35 in Pasco County.
"They’re always patrolling that section of it, the Pasco section of it,” he said.
"It's an ongoing problem all the time and I really don't want to see somebody get killed out here, particularly a child,” Kiper said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office says when it gets concerns, deputies follow up right away and plan on doing so on this road.
Piper says in the past they’ve put up a speed limit sign and he hopes they can do that again.
