Deaths reach 70 on Jacksonville’s roads this year

A hit-and-run crash late Monday left a man dead in a parking lot on Merrill Road — the city’s 70th traffic death in 2025.

The number of deaths this year is consistent with last year, but Duval County last year recorded far more deaths than surrounding counties.

The hit-and-run in Arlington rounded out a particularly violent Memorial Day weekend on the roads:

• Officers were called out about 11:45 p.m. Monday to find a man in his mid-50s lying in a parking lot behind the Walgreens store at 7224 Merrill Road, at the Townsend Boulevard intersection. The man was declared dead by Jacksonville Fire and Rescue. He apparently had been hit by a vehicle that left the scene, the Sheriff’s Office said.

• Monday morning, a 34-year-old man died in a crash on Heckscher Drive, the Florida Highway Patrol reported. The man veered on the road, then overcorrected, moving into the westbound lane toward another vehicle, FHP said. Driving without a seatbelt, he was ejected from his vehicle and died, FHP says.

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• A 38-year-old woman died just before noon Sunday when the pickup she was in hit a crash barrier at Riverside Avenue and the Acosta Bridge Expressway, according to the Highway Patrol. The pickup driver was merging onto Riverside Avenue when it hit a crash barrier. The passenger was not wearing a seat belt, the FHP said. She was declared dead at the scene.

• Another person died about 4:15 a.m. Sunday in the 4500 block of Brentwood Avenue. The man, in his mid-30s, was heading south when his car drifted across the northbound lanes and hit a concrete pole, police said. He was ejected from his car and pronounced dead at the scene by firefighters.

• About 1:15 p.m. Friday, a man in his 70s died as he was riding a motorcycle west on Argyle Boulevard. Police said a man in a Volkswagen drove into the motorcyclist’s path as it turned onto Youngerman Circle. The motorcycle hit the car. Its rider was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.

The deadly days of summer

The Florida Department of Transportation issued a warning just before the Memorial Day weekend, reminding families that the 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day — known nationally as the “100 Deadly Days of Summer” — pose the highest risk for fatal crashes involving teen drivers.

Greg Evans, District 2 secretary for the Florida Department of Transportation, said the department hoped teenagers would be more likely to listen to their peers about the dangers of speeding, distracted driving and not wearing a seatbelt.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Crash Dashboard states 3,163 people died statewide last year in the 381,153 crashes reported to law enforcement.

Of those, 202 were killed while riding bicycles; 585 were on motorcycles; 697 were pedestrians; and 247 were victims of hit-and-run accidents, state data shows.

State statistics for 2023 show a higher number of overall crashes — 395,175 — and more fatalities: 3,375. Of those, 234 were bicyclists; 621 were on motorcycles; 791 were pedestrians; and 276 were victims of hit-and-run crashes, state statistics show.

Duval County’s 70 traffic deaths this year are in line with the 71 at the five-month point of 2024, statistics show. But Duval County’s 157 deaths in 2024 surpassed surrounding counties, according to the state Crash Dashboard:

• Duval County: 23,010 crashes, 157 traffic deaths. That included 43 pedestrians as well as 36 motorcycle riders, eight on bicycles and 20 killed in hit-and-runs.
• Clay County: 2,633 crashes, 25 deaths, including two bicyclists, four on motorcycles, four pedestrians and one person in a hit-and-run.
• Nassau County: 3,766 crashes, 43 deaths. Two of them were bicyclists, seven on motorcycles, four pedestrians and two in hit-and-run crashes.
• Putnam County: 3,679 crashes, 41 deaths, including three bicyclists, six on motorcycles, six pedestrians and one in a hit-and-run crash.
• St. Johns County: 6,281 crashes, 48 deaths. Of those, two were bicyclists, eight on motorcycles, 10 pedestrians and one in a hit-and-run crash.

Anyone with information about Sunday’s hit-and-run on Merrill Road can call the Sheriff’s Office at (904) 630-0500 or leave an anonymous tip with First Coast Crime Stoppers at (866) 845-8477.