Residents of Coral Gables have united after Carrot's hit-and-run death by a speeding driver. They've met with city officials to demand speed bumps and safety measures in their neighborhood to slow cut-through drivers.
Sadia Raja
A day was never perfect in Coral Gables until you heard the chime of his little bell, gazed into his green eyes and felt his soft black-and-white fur — at least that’s how Carrot made life feel for dozens of neighbors.
When a speeding car cutting through the neighborhood took the life of this beloved cat last week, his passing rallied more than 100 families to demand the City of Coral Gables make their neighborhood safe so the next mourning wouldn’t be for someone’s child.
One cat’s adventurous life forced some of the city’s top officials, including the police chief and several running for office in next month’s elections, to leave City Hall and talk solutions Wednesday on the streets where Carrot once roamed.
Residents of Coral Gables unite after Carrot the Cat’s death to demand speed bumps and safety measures, prompting city officials to address speeding issues. Sadia Raja
On March 6, Sadia Raja was devastated to learn from a neighbor that her pet of 3 1/2 years, Carrot, was killed by a speeding car near her home in the Italian Villages section of Coral Gables, a historic neighborhood near Coral Gables Senior High inspired by Italian farm houses. Carrot would soon be pronounced dead after being rushed to an emergency vet clinic by Raja, her husband and their two children.
“It was gruesome...but we brought him home to say goodbye,” she said. “We’re all affected. For me, it was like having a child.”
Raja decided to tell a group chat of around 100 mothers in the Italian Village of Carrot’s passing, but little did she know how much of an impact he had. Within 24 hours, the community was creating a petition to demand the city do something to end speeding cars on their streets.
Signs to warn drivers to slow down in the Italian Village neighborhood of Coral Gables, Wednesday, March 12, 2025. Devoun Cetoute Miami Herald
‘Officially put on notice’
Raja and her neighbors spent the last five years trying to get the city’s attention about a speeding problem on Altara Avenue between the 500 to 600 block, just off Riviera Drive — sending officials 53 pages of emails.
About 780,000 cars pass daily through Coral Gables, according to police numbers, and this block is just one of many residential streets commuters use to cut through and avoid congestion.
This has led to mothers nearly being hit while walking their children or dogs by speeding commuters and young drivers from nearby Gables High as they try to beat the traffic, Raja said.
Carrot was the first fatality in the neighborhood.While the residents hadn’t received direct communication from the city before his death, city officials were implementing a study to assess putting speed prevention measures on the street. But neighbors felt the process was tied up in bureaucratic doublespeak.
It took four days after Carrot’s death for Raja to draft a petition and have it signed by 100 families, demanding speed bumps.
“The situation has become increasingly dangerous,” the petition read. “My beloved pet, Carrot,...was hit and killed in broad daylight by a speeding vehicle. This tragic and avoidable incident underscores the urgency of our request. We cannot afford to wait any longer while our families live in fear of the next accident.”
Soon after Raja sent the city the petition, city officials reacted. Mayor Vince Lago called her, while Vice Mayor Rhonda Anderson and commissioners Kirk Menendez and Ariel Fernandez visited her home to pay respects to Carrot and listen to her concerns. (It should be noted that city elections are on April 8 with Lago and Menendez locked in a nasty campaign for mayor while Anderson is seeking reelection as a commissioner.)
Fernandez, with Raja’s aid, set up the neighborhood meeting Wednesday to discuss the city’s traffic-calming work.
Deputy City Manager José Gómez speaks to a crowd of Italian Village residents in Coral Gables to discuss safety measures after Carrot the Cat’s death. Devoun Cetoute Miami Herald
Fernandez brought along Coral Gables Police Chief Edward James Hudak, Deputy City Manager José Gómez, Public Works Director Hermes Diaz and two police majors.
Officials explained that the neighborhood is undergoing the approval process for a speed table, much like a speed bump, to be put in place as well as speed limit signs. Due to the roads being controlled by Miami-Dade County, the city must conduct two studies and if passed, the neighborhood must approve two ballots to receive help — an arduous and lengthy process, officials said.
“We’ve become a reactive city, and we should be a proactive city,” Fernandez told the crowd, explaining he had seen the speeding himself in seconds of being in the neighborhood. “But I hope this is step toward being proactive. This is a complex situation...We don’t really make decisions on what we can do in our city blocks, but we do have things that we can try to do to alleviate some of that situation.”
The city has received more funding to put speed tables and other speeding deterrents in neighborhoods that request them and pass the studies, which track traffic volume and speed, the officials said.
Some residents weren’t particularly happy with how long the process would take.
“I understand you have a bureaucracy but we’re talking about lives here,” one neighbor said. “Something has to be done.”
Coral Gables Police Chief Edward Hudak speaks to Italian Village residents in Coral Gables to discuss safety measures after Carrot the Cat’s death.
Hudak told residents there will be more traffic enforcement. Once work is completed to install traffic cameras near Gables High, officers can be shifted from the school into neighborhoods.
The conversation lasted about two hours before officials and Raja walked the neighborhood to see the issues firsthand.
“We will increase the enforcement,” Hudak said. “I can’t fix stupid...but I do catch it. You have now officially put me on notice that you’re worried for the safety of your kids.”
‘He’s left a huge void’
Raja adopted Carrot when he was three months old. Born on Easter, he was a given a name fitting for the holiday, like his litter mates Peeps and Bunny.
Ileana Musa, longtime friend and neighbor of Raja, described Carrot as a one-in-a million cat. Despite most cats’ skittish behaviors and general fear of the unknown, Carrot tried tobefriend every living thing around him, including dogs, she said.
“I know some people will say it’s just a cat, but sometimes it’s those unique relationships that allow you to get the strength to mobilize around some action,” Musa said.
Residents of Coral Gables unite after Carrot the Cat’s death to demand speed bumps and safety measures from the city. Sadia Raja
When Raja announced Carrot’s death to the community, she was shocked by the dozens of personal stories and photographs she received on how Carrot touched her neighbors’ lives.
He’d wait almost every morning on one neighbor’s car to greet him; he’d welcome children and babies out for strolls with their mothers. One neighbor’s daughter loved Carrot so much she made a portrait of him.
“He’s left a huge void for many people,” Musa said. “He was just special. He left his paw print on so many people in terms of the experiences that they had with him, including me and my daughter.”
A portrait of Carrot made by the daughter of one of Sadia Raja's neighbors. Sadia Raja
For Raja’s two children, Carrot’s passing has been a tough loss. Her 13-year-old daughter wears his collar as a bracelet when she goes to school.
On the family’s dining room table a small vigil remains with flowers, children’s books on a pet’s passing and pictures given to the family by neighbors.
“Carrot made us realize that there was near misses before, and now that a family pet has died, a community pet has died, that this could happen to our own children,” Raja said.
A memorial sits on the dining room table in the Raja home to commemorate Carrot the Cat, who was hit and killed by a speeding driver in their Coral Gables neighborhood. Sadia Raja
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 12:51 PM.
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office.
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