10news reporter garin flowers is searching for ways to stop distractions behind the wheel. we start with jenny dean traveling i-4 all day long. it's rush hour right now. give us an idea of what it's lining the roads right now. >> we are in hillsborough county and we are heading east towards plant city right about now. in just the last few minutes traffic has started to increase and with that increase in traffic driving distractions. in just a few minutes i have seen several people talking on their phone. i see someone messing around with a pet in their car. just generally not paying a lot of attention because as traffic starts to slow down, they get bored. but the phone isn't the only dangerous driving behavior on

cruise control at 70 miles per hour, cars kept coming up behind us fast and whipping around. cars weren't going fast enough for some drivers. >> i work on i-4. i see it every day. >> reporter: the one thing drivers tell us they see so often, people on their phones. >> texting and on their phones. absolutely. like without a doubt. >> texting and driving. >> reporter: a lot? a you look over and the person is slamming on brakes and texting and driving or on their phones. >> they are texting. you see them texting all the time or on their phones. most cars have it. music. >> reporter: all right. we just wanted to give you a look at what we are seeing as we drive along. i have seen several people in the last few minutes on their phones as the traffic increases. that's when you need to be more

rush hour or even a sunday afternoon, because of the conditions of this road, you really need to stay alert at all times. back to you. >> and gene, i am glad he had his eyes on the road. you know what's making the roads so dangerous with the phones. what can be done to fix it? garin flowers is looking for solutions. >> reporter: hearing about this report, hearing about the statistics is alarming, but the fact of the matter is in you drive on i-4 you know how dangerous feels. one of the biggest problems and distracted driving. driving while texting isn't a primary offense in florida. you can't get pulled over for it. you would have to get pulled over for speeding, and then you could get cited for texting while driving. at 6:00 i have six reasons for the most crashes in florida,

live in tampa, garin flowers, 10news wtsp. >> the study found some of the shortest roads are also the most dangerous. they are roads that connect two major cities. the third deadliest is i-17. that connects phoenix and flagstaff, arizona. as you can see right here, an average of one death per mile, and it is 146 miles long. one of the shortest highways in the country is i-97. it is the tenth annapolis, maryland. the capital of the state. there are four deaths per every five miles. it's 18 miles long. fdot does not believe that this study is fair. they say you cannot compare longer highways that are crossing thousands of miles without major cities or tourist destinations to shorter ones that do. to get a look at the complete list of the country's most dangerous highways find that on our website wtsp.com and the

a dangerous fire causing closures own the veterans expressway. hillsborough county fire and rescue heard explosions while fighting a fire at the warehouse. a live look from sky 10 from the air, you see the smoke billowing up. we are hearing that there are chemicals inside that building that could cause even more explosions. taking a closer look at the location of that warehouse, barry road near benjamin road east of hillsborough fire rescue say some cats have escaped from the building. they fear a monkey could be trapped inside. we will stay on top of this story and keep you updated online and at wtsp.com. come turnover your screen and look at this. it will break your heart. cards and notes along with artwork from students at mango elementary. they made them for two classmates killed in a crash

night when a car lost control hitting them. deputies say the 22-year-old driver was speeding when he ended up in oncoming traffic. 10news reporter shannon valladolid spoke to maria and john's family and she shows you their plea for drivers to slow down. i have cried all night. i have been here since 1:30. i have not stopped crying. every time i think about it, it replays >> reporter: she has been wake more than 24 hours trying to come to terms with the fact her family members are no longer alive. >> it caught on fire. >> reporter: the family was on their way home from church. a 39-year-old and a 9-year-old and a 10-year-old were killed. two other teenagers were also

kinetta walker was on her way home when she captured this video before first responders arrived on scene. she is still distraught over what she saw. >> the kids. when they -- when they put the shield over the first child, that was tough. but when they took the second child, that wa >> reporter: the driver who hit the family, 22-year-old pablo cortes and his passenger died. plus say speed was a factor but have ruled out alcohol and street racing. >> respect of the streets are not to play around. a car is not to have fun with. it's for transportation purposes. >> reporter: the family is asking for the community's help in assisting them with giving their three loved ones a proper burial and to help the two survivors currently fighting

gen. in tampa shannon valladolid 10news wtsp. >> the family has set up a gofundme account. nearly $5,000 has already been raised. if you would like to help, go to wtsp.com and also our 10news app. lots of you turned to social media when this deadly crash made headlines before troopers ruled out street racing. a lot of people on facebook had some not so nice things to say about the 22-year-old driver who deputies say caused crash. in tonight's six story we talked to his friends about the comments from strangers and how it hit them hard. police need your help finding two people who shot and killed a clerk at the qp gas station in lake wales. they hope surveillance video helps bring his family justice. take a closer look. it's not the best video. kind of grainy. you can see one of the suspects wearing a hoodie holding a gun. police say the duo told the clerk to hand over his pants.

the clerk is then shot just out of frame. another camera angle shows you, you can see the suspect just taking off. police say the suspect only got away with whatever was in his pocket. >> it's very concerning over the fact that reallythal they got was this man's personal property and the fact that they are willing to take somebody's life over something as simple as pair of pants and what he may have in those pants. it's alarming. >> officers are patrolling that area hey looking for suspects. if you know anything call police. you may be eligible for a $3,000 award. another monkey on the loose in florida and it's following the same path of cornelius, that famous mystery monkey of tampa bay. >> and while you might laugh when you think about cornelius, remember that these animals can be dangerous and wildlife officials are asking for your help finding this monkey on the loose. >> now, it was spotted last -- yesterday morning in hudson,

south at a surprisingly fast pace. >> phil buck is live in st. pete where this mystery monkey was captured after almost four years on the run. phil. >> reporter: guys, let me give you an idea of where this latest monkey sighting happened. we are in south st. pete here. the last time this monkey was spotted was way up in hudson. that's about 50 miles north of here. according to reports, this monkey has covered quite a bit of ground lately and continuing to make its way south. now, we do have pictures that were taken in hudson yesterday morning of the monkey. you can see it clearly near people's homes. that's why fish and wildlife want to remind everyone do not feed the monkey. do not approach the monkey. in fact, if you see that monkey anywhere contact fish and wildlife because like cornelius, the mystery monkey of tampa bay, the more people that this monkey cops in contact with, the more

turn into a bad situation. >> they can carry diseases that spread to people. normal monkey behavior to be curious. humans find them interesting and think they are cute, so humans try to make friends with them. they end up getting bit and then people want to kill the monkey. >> reporter: now, my social media today, it lit up when i started tweeting about this monkey. obviously, people cornelius, the mystery monkey of tampa bay. there are similarities between this monkey and that of cornelius. i am putting together something on that. plus we will hear from the guy who took the photos yesterday. that's coming up at six. ahead on 10news at 5, you have never seen a police chase like this one. try to guess what this guy stopped to do moments before

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you are taking a live look outside at downtown tampa. you can see the clouds out there, but hey, look, there is no rain. it feels good. bobby will let us know, however, if we will see rain, and he is also talking about snow. >> i don't know what to say. >> yeah. why snow? well, when you hear about a police car chase you think of speeding cars maybe blowing

you probably don't think of a leisurely trip through a drive- thru. that's what happened in south phoenix. they tried pulling him over. he kept going because of an outstanding warrant. police followed him slowly. a news helicopter then spotted him stopping at non in and out drive-thru. >> you know, when you are hungry, you're hungry. he took his time ordering. >> last meal? >> he pulls up to the next window. by the time police goer he was driving through a neighborhood next to the restaurant. he got out of his truck. you see what happens. he surrendered. flat on the ground for police in someone's backyard. >> i want to know if he had time to eat anything? okay. he is not going to run fast after that. all right. very quiet weather out there. the camera we showed you from downtown had clouds, but there

dry. look to the south. i showed you yesterday, we were talking about the amount of moisture in the atmosphere. it's dry over top of us for most of the layers, but down south that's the moisture that comes with us for summertime and that's producing showers and a couple thunderstorms, mainly heavy showers over far southern florida and the central and northern keys. that will stay there. we will not have to worry about it. we are comfortable. 82, 83 degrees from new port richey to springhill. both at 82. 81 in lakeland. 84 in sarasota. we are looking at 80 degrees in polk city. so everybody's comfortable out there. we have that nice breeze. 10, 15-mile-per-hour sustained winds, although it's blowing steadily at 20 miles per hour in sarasota. 26-mile-per-hour wind gusts there. 23-mile-per-hour wind gusts in lakeland. forecast for tonight, you're headed out, hallow scream, there is a lot to do. it's going to be fantastic out

70s, should stay dry. tomorrow morning upper 60s again. getting to the bus stop, keep that in mind. very comfortable and dry. that's tomorrow mid morning into about lunchtime. and then as we get into the afternoon hours we will continue to keep the high clouds around. showers to the south and the tops get blown off in our direction, plus the jet stream is up above it. so we will have some sunshine in the mix. no problem there. especially the betr through the later afternoon hours. that means we will see a little bit more sunshine in the morning. golf times tomorrow, no worries. 9 a.m. looks good. 85 degrees for a daytime high. that's about where we have been today for daytime highs, and it's a little bit above average. we should be about 83 this time of year. keep in mind with the breezes out there it's blowing the pollen around. ragweed, elm and grass. better winds in the afternoon, so it still picks it up. let's talk about snow. obviously, not for us.

rain to the latter half of the game last night, the world series in cleveland, is now moving into the northeast. so, yeah, there is some snow in albany mixing in with some rain. a little bit further in new york, vermont, rutland, that right there is bratleboro, vermont. i am going to do a time lapse coming up on this because just a couple hours ago everything was green. yeah, a little bit of snow out there. this is a picture somebody sent in from alta let's enjoy the 80s we have. if you just came back down to i void that, you did it in the nick of time. look at this great weekend forecast, too. mid-80s. sunshine all the way through. a few extra clouds. halloween looks fantastic. 86 for a high. a warm day. trick-or-treat time will be a little bit cooler. in a half an hour i will have your hour-by-hour forecast for the trick-or-treaters and we will take a look into next week, as well. this is very quiet, comfortable weather for us. >> i know you're multitasking

are doing. come over to your screen. give me two minutes and be a part of this next story. a maryland high school student with down's syndrome was moved to tears by the sweetness of her classmates. what it meant to the 17-year- old and her family. >> reporter: it's something that every parent thinks about. >> everybody worries about their children when they go to school. >> she is gonna cry. >> reporter: shyann bossley is no different, although she has been ug year-olds. >> surgeries. knee surgeries and all kinds of things. eye surgeries. >> reporter: it's what recently happened at her high school that made shyann cry. that's shyann finding out her classmates in cumberland, maryland nominated her to be the homecoming queen to the dance. >> i cried. it's so sweet and kind.

>> it's been amazing. it's made mom and dad cry. >> reporter: the time since her nomination has been fit for a queen. crowned at a football game. here she is the center of attention at the cumberland halloween parade. and she picked up a date for the dance. >> reporter: what did you think of that? >> i said yes. >> reporter: did you say yes right away? >> i say yes right away. >> reporter: shyann and daniel have known each other their lives. deserves it more. she can walk into a crowd with people frowning and she will make them smile. >> reporter: for her classmates, this was an easy choice. shyann won 70% of the homecoming vote. >> she is close to everybody. she knows everybody by name in the school. >> she really is one of the deserving ones. >> reporter: they are her fans, too, and her friends. >> they are really nice. >> this group of kids ever

she is different in one way. she is the queen. >> she looks beautiful. that is what homecoming queen is all about. >> inclusion. >> inclusion. being supportive of all of your friends in high school. of course, making their day. that's what she does every day. >> i love that she makes her community smile. now with her story in tampa bay, she is making everyone

port tampa bay has now become florida's largest and most diversified. which helps explain why it is one of dana young's top priorities. generating over 15 billion for the regional economy, and 80 thousand local jobs. attracting high waged jobs for families who need them and fighting a bureaucracy that too often gets in the way. dana young for the florida senate.

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amendment 1 ensures that if you don't choose solar, you don't have to pay for those who do. amendment 1 blocks special subsidies for special interests. i served under president bush and obama. i fought the taliban. i was asked to form a global coalition to counter isil. when someone makes the comment that they know more about the islamic state or isil than do the generals, it implies a complete ignorance of the reality. but i believe secretary clinton really understands the threat that the islamic state poses to the united states and to the american people. and i believe she understands how to wield american power to ultimately defeat this threat and to keep us safe. i'm hillary clinton

yeah, this could get in the way of trick-or-treating. >> no thank you. >> this is happening in a neighborhood in north florida. a bear has been showing up searching through garbage cans looking for food. finally, a surveillance camera caught him from a neighbor's sniffing around someone's front door. florida fish and wild live went door to door reminding homeowners how to be safe around bears. another bear was caught on camera, this time in california. >> this bear got a big surp and came in the form two tiny guard dogs. you have to see this. the video is scary, but funny at the same time. look at that bear. >> holy moley! >> he tries to get away from those two tiny yapping dogs right there. >> see, little dogs don't know their size. >> ferocious. did you see the two dogs that were across the street? the little chihuahua? >> oh, yeah. >> anyway, this bear wound up on the fence.

>> yeah. as funny as we think it is, this is serious. their names are bentley and taco, those little guys. they didn't look too happy seeing their big furry intruder. maybe they wanted to play? [ laughter ] maybe not. you know, all that bear had to do was turn around. they'd be gone. anyway, a car stolen and then returned. was it just an accident? i am reginald roundtree. why this woman in this video says she got into the car and then drove off, but she didn't mean to take it. taking a stance on used cars sold to you with recalled airbags. what the owner of a florida dealership is doing to try and put this to a stop. then new at 6:00, sentenced to six months in jail for kicking someone. this is video proving that it happened, but does the punishment fit the crime?

can decide.

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"10news at 5:30" starts right now. >> good evening. i am courtney robinson. >> i am reginald roundtree. thank you so much for joining us. driving too fast. troopers say a speeding driver is to blame for a fiery crash in tampa that killed five people. two teenage rl at first some were saying the driver responsible for the crash was street racing, but investigators later ruled that out. >> tonight's big story, even though we didn't know the cause of the crash right away, many came to their own conclusions about what happened. 10news reporter jennifer titus shows you how the words you type on social media are just as hurtful as the ones that are spoken. >> reporter: this is where the crash occurred late wednesday night on mlk, but the