First responders rush through the streets to save lives every day, but that comes with a risk and, sometimes, a cost. With more than 30 crashes involving Jacksonville police and fire vehicles last week, city leaders are once again concerned about safety.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office alone had 24 crashes last week, with the officers at fault in 17 of them. Jacksonville Fire-Rescue vehicles were involved in seven additional crashes, and five were found to be the firefighters' fault.
Because of past incidents and maintenance, 54 JSO vehicles are out of service out of 1,700 vehicles in its fleet. An additional 22 JFRD and 79 other city vehicles are offline for maintenance.
Earlier this year, the I-Team reported that crashes of city vehicles cost taxpayers an average of more than $1.5 million each year.