'Everybody seems to be in a hurry out here'The deaths of two motorists on Perdido Key Drive on Wednesday night have some residents questioning why nothing has been done about the dangerous road.
"There are no lights and you cannot see," said Dale Hoffman, 39, a bartender at The Reef on Perdido Key. "When the fog comes in or it rains real hard, you are way out of luck."
The two-lane stretch of State Road 292 extends from Orange Beach, Ala., to Navy Boulevard and changes names three times — from Gulf Beach Highway to Sorrento Road to Perdido Key Drive.
The road has seen more than its fair share of fatal accidents in the recent months. In January, Brenda and Tracy Herring died in a head-on crash between South Blue Angel Parkway and Fairfield Drive, the same stretch that claimed the life of a motorcyclist three months before.
The latest fatalities occurred about 8 p.m. in front of the Seaspray condominiums on Perdido Key. Pensacola resident Vanessa L. Young, 43, was driving east on Perdido Key Drive when she crossed the center line and struck an oncoming Ford sport utility vehicle, troopers reported.
Both Young and the driver of the Ford, Chris W. Barnette, 61, of Jacksonville, were killed in the accident. Barnette's wife, Dorothy Barnette, also 61, suffered injuries that included a broken leg. Dorothy Barnette was listed in fair condition at Baptist Hospital Thursday, officials there said.
A 4-year-old boy secured in a child-safety seat in the Barnette's SUV was not injured. The accident is still under investigation, and it was not determined Thursday if speed or alcohol were attributing factors in the fatal accident, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Steve Preston said.
Speed is a problem on Perdido Key Drive where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour, said Tom St. Clair, 39, a Lillian, Ala., resident, who works at Geno's Fresh Catch Grill in Orange Beach.
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