- December 4, 2025
A study produced by the Volusia-Flagler River-to-Sea Transportation Planning Organization identifies 10 areas in each county that qualify as "high-injury networks," one of which rests on a stretch of State Road A1A in The Hammock.
The study was commissioned by the TPO through a grant, Flagler County engineer Hamid Tabassian said. The TPO needed to conduct a study to identify the need before it can apply for funding to fix the problems.
"The bottom line," he said, "is that is a prerequisite for applying for, with the federal government, implementation of those items that are in the action plan.”
At its June 25 meeting, the TPO adopted its Vision Zero Safety Action Plan. In the study, it shows that of Flagler County's 1,245 centerline miles of roadway, 53 miles were identified as a part of a high-injury network.
In The Hammock, 3.4 miles of S.R. A1A between Camino Del Mar and Cedar Point Road was one of the top 10 prioritized HIN in Flagler County. It had 89 crashes between 2019-2023, nine of which involved victims who were killed or seriously injured, or KSI.
A records request from the Flagler County Sheriff's Office showed that speeding and safe driving are a concern in the area.
Since the beginning of 2024 to July 1, 2025, 94 citations and warnings were issued in The Hammock between the town limits of Beverly Beach and Marineland. Of those, 67 were speeding violations and another six were for driving violations: driving recklessly, following too closely, failure to stay in their lane and passing on a double yellow line.
THE DATA
According to the Vision Zero study, Volusia and Flagler Counties saw a combined total of 65,978 crashes between 2019 and 2023, not including those on highways like Interstate 95 and in parking lots.
“That means a crash happened in the region about every hour and a half," the report said.
Crashes were defined in the study as any instance where one road user collides with another, including motor vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, animals, debris and other obstructions.
More than 2,200 people were seriously injured in that time frame, and 604 were killed. In Flagler County, there were a total of 8,245 crashes, 276, or 3.3%, involved serious injuries or death, or KSI crashes.
Comparatively, Volusia County had 57,733 crashes in the same time period, 2,575 of which were KSI crashes: 4.5%.
Of the documented crashes in Flagler County, only 1.3% involved bicyclists, but they accounted for 4.7% of the county's KSI crashes. Another 2.1% involved pedestrians, which were 11.7% of the KSI crashes.
In total, Flagler County had 14 bicycle and pedestrian deaths between 2019 and 2023 and 27 serious injuries.
Of the identified HIN in Flagler County, The Hammock HIN had no pedestrian or bicyclist injuries during that period, but the study noted that areas of S.R. A1A were identified as "a top 40 percentile crash risk for pedestrians and bicyclists in Flagler County."
The significant risk factors, the report said, include a lack of sidewalks or sidewalk barrier and percent of households without a vehicle.
FLAGLER COUNTY IS TAKING STEPS
Tabassian said the county is working to reduce the dangers in The Hammock, first by reducing the speed limit on S.R. A1A to 35 mph.
“The speed limit needs to come down to 35 [mph] in The Hammock area,” he said. “We have bicyclists, we have pedestrians, people want to stop, park, got to a restaurant, go to businesses that are there, and do it safely.”
The county is also looking to add additional crosswalks with flashing pedestrian crossing signs, he said. It's common knowledge that Hammock residents who live on the west side of S.R. A1A will cross the road to get to the beach on the other side, though the county does not have many designated crosswalks in the area.
One crosswalk will be getting a facelift soon. Tabassian said the county is working with the Florida Department of Transportation to refresh the crosswalk at Mala Compra Park and Bing's Landing. The FDOT is also going to install a flashing pedestrian sign to alert drivers, he said.
The upgrade, he said, should be coming “any day,” according to the FDOT.
The Vision Zero study also included short- and long-term methods to address the safety concerns. For The Hammock HIN, that includes conducting a mobility study.
THE PROBLEM
Funding continues to be the issue.
Flagler County is looking at addressing the safety concerns identified in the Vision Zero plan, but doing so can be expensive, Tabassian said.
Conducting a mobility study, he said as an example, can cost up to half a million dollars. While Flagler County is hoping to receive grant funding for that study, it will still responsible for a local match requirement.
But the study is necessary.
“Having that assessment done, getting the speed limit down to 35, getting these crossings – that is going to take care of the need at these pedestrian crossings," Tabassian said.
Getting the speed limit reduced to 35 mph will also open the door to saving additional funds while implementing more pedestrian safety methods, like additional crosswalks with pedestrian-activated flashing signs.
If the speed limit is over 35 mph, the FDOT requires an overhead hybrid flashing beacon be installed instead of the road-side sign, Tabassian said. But the overhead beacons cost around half a million dollars to install, he said.
The road-side signs, in contrast, are closer to $50,000, but can only be installed where the speed limit is 35 mph or less.
But even finding ways to reduce the cost only helps to a point. The county still needs the funding to implement changes, and not all of it can come from grant money.
The county and its residents will need to discuss other ways of funding these improvements. Tabassian said its important residents know where their tax dollars are going, because property taxes do not fund road and safety improvements.
And Flagler County has a lot of areas that need funding, he said.
“From safety, from taking care of the beach, taking care of the drainage issues,” he said. “So much needs that there are, and no funding. As a county, we have very little funding.”
