Roundabouts in The Villages are often scenes of accidents and confusion.
With snowbird season right around the corner, roundabouts soon could be even more dangerous in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown.
There already have been a number of mishaps in roundabouts this year:
• Earlier this month, a man in a golf cart was arrested after he was spotted in a roundabout. Bryan Arnett, 33, who lives in the Natalie Villas in the Village of Mallory Square, had been driving the golf cart in the roundabout at Buena Vista Boulevard and Pinellas Place when he was spotted by a Sumter County sheriff’s deputy. He said he knew he was not allowed to drive a golf cart on the roadway. He admitted his driver’s license had been suspended for “lots of tickets.”
• In July, a woman was ejected from a golf cart in an accident in the roundabout at Morse Boulevard and El Camino Real. Last year, a Village of Sabal Chase woman was injured in a crash at that same roundabout.
• In June, a Village of Sanibel bicyclist was struck by a car in the Pinellas Place roundabout on Buena Vista Boulevard. Dan Humiston was riding his bicycle to a Sumter Landing Bicycle Club ride when the crash occurred. The driver said she did not see him. He suffered significant road rash and a bad headache.
• In April, the driver of a cement mixer had to be extricated from his truck when it overturned in the roundabout at Powell Road and Brownwood Boulevard.
• Earlier that same month, a woman was ticketed after an accident in the roundabout at Buena Vista Boulevard and Bailey Trail.
• A driver was ticketed in March after colliding with an ambulance in the roundabout at Buena Vista Boulevard and El Camino Real.
• In February, a speeding driver was ticketed after crashing in the roundabout at Morse Boulevard and Odell Circle.
• In January, an Illinois woman who had been drinking at City Fire was arrested on a drunk driving charge after crashing in the roundabout at Morse Boulevard and Stillwater Trail. The crash caused $500 in damage to the sprinkler system and flowers.
• That same month, a teen driver was ticketed after crashing in the roundabout at Buena Vista Boulevard and Rainey Trail.
• Also in January, a Village of Hemingway woman was arrested on a drunk driving charge after allegedly cutting off a deputy in the roundabout at Morse Boulevard and Stillwater Trail. She had been drinking “bottomless mimosas” and Absolut Vodka at the Lighthouse Point Bar & Grille at Lake Sumter Landing.
