“IT WAS A SHOCK, STILL IN SHOCK.”
Inside Diane and William Matthewman’s South Florida home, their son David’s artistic touch is everywhere.
“These are his starfish he made, all one of a kind. He was into making big molds by hand, and then he would sell them to other artists,” said his mom.
But one year ago, in the early morning hours of Good Friday, their 34-year-old son, whose creations mimicked his love for the sea, died after he was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver going south in the northbound express lane on I-95.
His mom recalls the visit from Florida Highway Patrol troopers.
According to the investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), at the time of the collision, David Matthewman had done nothing wrong. He wasn’t speeding, he wasn’t drinking, and he and his friend were both wearing seatbelts.
But the 24-year-old who ran into them was drunk with his blood alcohol level nearly three times over the legal limit, according to FHP’s final crash report.
That night, David, his friend, and the wrong-way driver were all killed.
MAYBE THIS WHOLE THING COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.”
For his dad, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida, justice and fairness died with David.
“It’s just so frustrating, so maddening to think that somebody could, be so reckless to drink that much and go the wrong way,” he said. “How you get into the wrong way going south in the northbound express lane in Palm Beach County, I still can't understand it.”
But what the Matthewmans are also trying to understand and come to grips with is this: minutes before the collision, a witness called 9-1-1 to warn them of the danger lurking on the highway.
In 9-1-1 recordings we obtained through a public record request, at 2:18 a.m., a witness tells a dispatcher, “We were in the right lane going north, and they were going south towards us.”
The dispatcher responds, “I will go ahead and get that out to my troopers in the area and get that vehicle stopped.”
Help didn’t arrive in time.
Three minutes after that warning call, a call came about a crash.
“I just wish there had been a trooper up there on I-95,” said Judge Matthewman. “They know how to stop a wrong-way driver. They train for it, and if there had just been a trooper up there, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided.”
It’s a gut-wrenching ‘what if’ scenario. David’s parents will never know.
No one will.
FHP: UNDERSTAFFED, UNDERFUNDED AND OVERWHELMED WITH DEMAND
“What I do know is that there have been wrong-way crashes prevented when we did have troopers in the area,” said Attorney Paul Novack, who also serves on the Florida Highway Patrol Advisory Council. Novack has been vocal about the state’s ongoing shortage of troopers.
Novack believes what happened to David Matthewman is the real-life consequence of a state agency that, for years, has been underfunded, understaffed, and overwhelmed with demand, including President Trump’s most recent and politically chargedimmigration enforcement.
“This isn’t about immigration, this isn't about political theater, and this isn't about distractions and diversions. This is about highway safety, and we're missing the mark. We have a deficient system because we don't have enough troopers, and we don't pay our troopers enough,” Novack said.
At just over $54,000 per year, starting salaries for Florida troopers are among the lowest nationwide.
“HE TEXTED ME I LOVE YOU.”
But with nearly 150 troopers short, the agency’s overtime costs are reaching highs that, last month, even took lawmakers off guard.
“I’m running a busines., If my overtime is $10 million, I think I got a problem,” Fla. Representative Randy Maggard said during a budget committee hearing in Tallahasseelast month. Maggard is a Republican who represents parts of Pasco County.
“Yes, we’re spending an inordinate amount on overtime because of the low staffing we have in highway patrol,” responded Dave Kerner, Executive Director of FL’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which oversees Florida’s Highway Patrol. Kerner explained to lawmakers that the agency is losing more troopers than it can hire because of low salaries and a lack of career growth within the agency.
Kerner is asking lawmakers to approve $12 million this session to increase trooper salaries. Novack doesn’t think that’s enough and believes the agency needs closer to $70 million to end its trooper shortage.
“It’s a dire issue of public safety,” he said.
Judge Matthewman and his wife agree.
“Something has to change,” said Mrs. Matthewman.
David’s final words to his parents came just a few hours before he was killed.
“He texted me, 'I love you.' I texted him back, 'I love you too,'” recalled Judge Matthewman, who decided to speak publicly about his son’s death in hopes of inspiring lawmakers to act.
“I'm only speaking as a dad who lost a son that we love very much,” he said. “It was preventable, and it was unnecessary. It was because of a reckless drunk driver, and that's exactly what the troopers do. They take reckless drunk drivers off the road. If there aren't enough troopers to take reckless drunk drivers off the road, it's going to happen again and again and again,” he said.
