PALM BAY, Fla. – After seeing a spike in crashes and dangerous driving, Palm Bay Police are bolstering their traffic enforcement unit for the first time in nearly a decade.

"When it went from yellow to red, I felt like I was going too fast to make the stop," said Angela Wade, whose morning went from rushed to worse in a matter of moments.

Wade became the first red light runner pulled over in the first detail of Palm Bay Police's enhanced traffic enforcement unit.

"I took the turn, and I spilled my coffee," Wade said.

The enforcement was at the intersection of Babcock Street and Malabar Road, one of the busiest in Brevard County. Each day nearly 44,000 vehicles pass through this area of Palm Bay.

Many of the drivers, according to police, are driving dangerously or not paying attention on the roadway.​ In 2019 there were 2857 total crashes in the city. Thirteen of them fatal. This year as of August police have worked 1,597 crashes. One of them deadly.

According to FHP, overall, Central Florida counties are down 20 percent in traffic crashes.

In Orange, 2019 saw 118 fatalities, and 64 so far this year. Osceola had 53 fatal crashes last year, compared to 23 at this point in 2020.

"We definitely want to cut down on the traffic crashes, and we certainly don't want any deaths related," said Lt. Michael Smith with the Palm Bay Police Department.

Two of those deaths hit home personally for Smith. Two of eight pedestrians struck and killed last year.

"Unfortunately I did have to see these folks get run over in the roadway," Smith said.

Just down the street from the busy intersection, two homeless people were hit and killed in March of 2019. Smith had gone inside a nearby Wendy's to get them something to eat.

"You carry that burden for a long time," he said.

For Wade, she understands why police are patrolling.

"It's not a good morning for me, but that's ok, they are doing their job," she said.