VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla.,None — Volusia County leaders said they want to ban texting while driving on the beach. That's just one of many ideas to came out of a beach safety meeting Wednesday afternoon.
The busy beach season is almost here, and lifeguards are getting ready for it as Volusia County is trying to make the beaches safer.
But county government is taking responsibility by introducing a new set of ideas for safety in a public meeting Wednesday. They would be the latest changes in the wake of injuries and deaths, including two 4-year-olds run over by cars and killed on the beach two years ago.
The county is considering banning texting while driving on the beach. The county may also considering limiting the use of cellphones altogether, limiting the the height of vehicles, and cruising down the beach. There are also changes in store for beach patrol.
Beach patrol has already made a few changes since last summer, including adding cameras to their existing trucks. There's one to see the blind spot on the passenger side, and one in the back to see the rear when the truck is in reverse.
Beach patrol is also using smaller UTVs. The county already has five more on the way that will be here this year.
A lot of the new changes will be put in place over the course of this summer and this year. The county hasn't released any figures as to how much these new changes could cost.