Residents on Siesta Key are quick to bring up safety concerns when it comes to traffic — mainly, that the congested roadways can slow down emergency vehicles on the way to help someone.
A year’s worth of data from the Sarasota Fire Department between May 2017 and April 2018 on Siesta Key, though, indicates response times at peak season don’t vary much from the rest of the year.
Year-round, the average time it took for emergency crews to make it to a scene on Siesta Key ranged between five minutes and 19 seconds and six minutes and 20 seconds. In March, which many consider to be the busiest month of the year for traffic and tourism, the average response time was the lowest of the 12 months.