That's Just Wrong: Dangerous Driving

To avoid rush hour traffic, drivers cut through side streets in someone else's neighborhood.

Mary Conway: "There's a tendency for drivers to cut through residential neighborhoods."

And that's just what's happening in a quiet section of Coconut Grove.

Neighbor Lawrence Martin: "They do sometimes try to cut through when there's busy events, and that's primarily one of my concerns."

Good thing for neighbors, most of the streets in the area are closed. There are plenty of no outlet, one way and no through street signs.

But what's happening on 27th lane and 28th street is just wrong.

Watch as cars cut through to get to us1 driving the wrong way down a one way street.

Ron Nelson: "People instead of going around actually go against the one way for that short distance, and they actually go very fast because they don't want to get caught."

Maybe they can't get caught. But the neighbors have another solution. They're asking lawmakers to close the street without opening others to accommodate traffic.

Sandra Speier: "We want assurances in our neighborhood that if the streets get closed, our streets will remain intact as they are - quiet, no additional streets being opened."

And now the city and county are working to do just that. Currently, the city is sending out these ballots to every house. If two thirds of the neighbors vote in favor of the closure, the street will likely close down unless the county finds it leads to more problems.

Mary Conway: "If the county felt that there were safety issues associated with emergency vehicle access, or traffic patterns have changed that a street might need to be reopened, that is a remote possibility but I think it's very remote."

In the mean time, most neighbors hope the measure passes so they can put the brakes on wrong way drivers forever.

Ron Nelson: "Hopefully we'll be able to stand on that street and see how quiet it is, and see the people out with their children and their dogs and walking the streets."

By law, county officials have the right to re-open any street, no matter how long its' been closed. The traffic study shows neighbors who live on those streets and cut-thru drivers are the ones going the wrong way down the road.

Right now, no decision's been made on that because officials say they are waiting for input from the fire department, police and for the neighborhood vote.

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