Car carrier drop-off enforcement discussed

When part-time residents fly down to Longboat Key, car carriers follow, dropping off residents’ personal vehicles on the island for the season.

Where exactly those cars are dropped off has caused problems on Longboat Key, spurred by a 2019 death of a car carrier operator who was hit by a passing car on Gulf of Mexico Drive. In response, the town adopted a policy the prohibits car carrier drop-offs on Gulf of Mexico Drive, the town’s main road.

That rule is commonly broken, leading to continued reminders and discussions by town leaders on how to compel compliance.

“I came back on the island last night about 8 o’clock and there was a car carrier sitting right in front of Beach Place turnout in the middle of the road very close to where we had that fatal accident several years ago,” Commissioner Steve Branham said.

Branham said after passing the truck, he saw a police car parked about a half mile north but he wasn’t able to stop and talk to the officer to ask him to check out the car carrier. At the workshop meeting, Branham asked if there was a way to use the town’s license plate readers to alert officers when car carriers enter Longboat Key to monitor the trucks to ensure they go to the proper drop-off location.

Police Chief Russ Mager said he would look into whether that was something that could be done.

Vice Mayor Debra Williams asked the chief a follow-up question: whether penalties can be assessed to the person receiving the vehicle instead of the car carrier operator.

Mager said the person breaking the law, according to Florida Statute, is the person dropping off the car, not the person receiving the car. Whether accepting a vehicle on Gulf of Mexico Drive could be defined as a crime with the passage of a town ordinance is not clear to town leaders.

“We’d have to look into it,” said Town Attorney Maggie Mooney. “I’d have to get back to you.”

Commissioner BJ Bishop said years ago the town approved fuds to install signs reminding them of the car carrier drop-off rules.

The designated drop-off location for car carriers is Bay Isles Road by Mediterranean Plaza.