In 5 years, 23 pedestrian have died on 3 of Tampa's busiest roadways

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - Three busy roads in Hillsborough County are getting the attention of deputies.

They say it looks like a game of "Frogger" when people try to cross the streets and it's dangerous.

Almost two dozen people have been killed on Hillsborough Avenue, Busch Boulevard, and Fowler Avenue in the past five years. Now, multiple agencies are coming together to do something about it.

 The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, Tampa Police, the Florida Department of Transportation, and the University of South Florida are joining forces to educate people on traffic safety over the next several months.

Deputies will be stopping pedestrians, bicyclist, and motorists who aren’t following the rules.

"If you drive any of those corridors, you will see that pedestrians, unfortunately, take risks. They will not use the crosswalk, they will run across the road, and these are large corridors, six lanes or more," explained Kris Carson, a FDOT spokesperson.

Law enforcement says in these three corridors, a total of 23 fatalities have occurred over the last five years.

"When you consider that Hillsborough County is over a thousand square miles, and we're only talking about eight miles of roadway, to have that many fatalities, obviously we have some issues we need to address on these roadways," said Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Corporal Steven Cherpock.

While speeding is of major concern in these areas, it's not the only one.

"We also have violations of right-of-way by motorists, people making left turns when they shouldn't, running red lights," said Cpl. Cherpock. "For pedestrians, not using the crosswalks, darting in front of cars. It's all these factors combined that are really leading to these issues we're having as far as the 23 fatalities on these three roadways in the last five years."

Deputies will be educating pedestrians and bicyclists by handing out flyers with safety tips.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office will run the operation for 17 weeks.

The Florida of Department of Transportation granted both HCSO and TPD $36,000 for the campaign.