Interstate crashes keep on climbing in Duval County

We told you back in June about a sharp rise in the number of interstate crashes in Duval County, especially in the construction zones.

That trend continues on all three of Jacksonville's biggest highways as we enter the final four months of 2016.

The latest report from the Florida Highway Patrol shows a nearly 27% overall increase in crashes for Interstates 10, 95 and 295 between May 1st and September 1st of this year. That's compared to the same time period in 2015.

I-295 has seen the worst of it, reporting a nearly 30% jump in wrecks. It's at just over 19% for I-10 and just under 19% for I-95. Those numbers aren't factoring in any crashes outside of Duval for both I-10 and I-95.

1,101 crashes were reported on the Beltway between May and September of this year, 251 more than in 2015. That's an increase of 29.52%.

I-95 saw 802 wrecks during the middle four months of 2016, 128 more than during the same time the year before. That's an increase of 18.99%.

As for I-10, 280 fender-benders were reported between May and September 2016. That's 45 more when compared to the same time in 2015, an increase of 19.15%.

For the first four months this year, I-295 saw an over 31% increase in wrecks. I-95 had an over 25% jump, while I-10 saw a rise of nearly 6%. All that is compared to the first four months of 2015.

Overall, there's been 4,251 crashes in the first eight months of this year. There were 3,359 crashes reported to FHP for the first eight months of 2015, a difference of 892.

For both years, the majority of those crashes have been on the Beltway. 2,095 have been reported so far in 2016 compared to 1,575 for the first eight months of 2015, a difference of 520.

I-95 has seen 1,624 wrecks in 2016 compared to 1,311 in 2015, a difference of 313.

As for I-10, they've reported 532 crashes so far in 2016, 59 more than the 473 counted in 2015.

The latest report doesn't go specifically into the reasons behind the increase in accidents, but officials with FHP and the Florida Department of Transportation have said in the past that the constant construction on all those roads - especially the Beltway - has definitely played a factor, along with a population increase and a drop in gasoline prices.

Why do you think this is happening? Let us know by commenting below or using the Open Mic on the News 104.5 WOKV smartphone app.