Neighbors call for action along ‘dead man’s curve’ after deadly crash in Oceanway

Jacksonville, Fla. — There are calls for improvements along what neighbors describe as a dangerous road in Oceanway after a teen died in a crash there on Labor Day.

“I don’t know how many lives have got to be lost at this curve right here. It’s sad. It’s really, really sad,” Teresa Spivey, an Oceanway neighbor, said. She’s lived in the neighborhood for more than 60 years and said the 90-degree curve on Dunn Creek Road is known to locals as the “dead man’s curve”.

According to the City of Jacksonville, there have been four crashes at the curve in the last five years. Action News Jax requested crash data from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and found 12 crashes on all of Dunn Creek Road since 2022.

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“There’s a lot of speeders coming up on that curve and they think it’s full open right here. Lots of kids don’t know that curve is here,” Spivey said.

According to the latest traffic counts from the City, parts of Dunn Creek Road have seen a 6% increase in traffic from 2022 to 2023.

The speed limit along the curve drops from 40 to 15 miles per hour and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has not yet confirmed speed was a factor in this crash.

Police said five people were in the pickup, all between 17 and 22 years old. The 18-year-old woman in the front passenger seat died after they all tried CPR.

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“She’s so young. Bless her family. Bless everybody in that vehicle trying to save her. My heart goes out to all of them. They were all so young,” Spivey said.

She calls on the City to add more warning signs leading up to the corner. Right now, there are only reflective signs and Spivey suggested adding flashing lights.

“It’s so sad that it takes so many people to lose a life. All it takes is a couple of lights,” she said.

A City spokesperson told Action News Jax they last upgraded the signs in February 2023 and based on their research, there have been four crashes at the corner in five years. “The warning signs at the turn appear to be adequate. It is unclear how the driver missed the signs in the tragedy over the weekend,” the representative said.

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