Florida has 13th most dangerous roads for drivers in US, study says

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A study of road safety and health across the United States found that Florida has the 13th most dangerous roads in the country. 1-800-Injured’s study of roads in all 50 states and the District of Columbia ranked states and counties.

According to the study, using 2020 data from the Federal Highway Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Florida ranked 13 for fatalities on the road per 100,000 people. The Sunshine State has 16.47 people die per 100,000 residents, and 23.17 die per 100,000 drivers.

“Breaking down that overall score, Florida ranked 18th for road fatalities by licensed drivers, with 21.2 deaths per 100,000, and ranked 15th for fatalities by population,” the study reported. Florid has “15.47 deaths per 100,000 people in the state. However, Florida’s worst performance was for deaths by vehicle miles traveled, where it came 10th with 16.01 fatalities per billion VMT.”

The study said that while not the worst state for dangerous roads, Florida is still ranked “fairly high.”

Zooming in on Florida, the 1-800-Injured study examined individual counties for various safety factors.

According to the study, Seminole is the safest county to drive in, with just 0.84 road fatalities per 1,000 people. Miami-Dade County had the most fatalities reported in the state, while Liberty County had the least, with just 19 fatalities reported.

Separately, Glades, Hamilton, and Levy counties were the top three counties for fatalities on the road per 1,000 people, according to the 1-800-Injured study.

From 2010 to 2019, “there was more than a 30% increase in road fatalities on Florida roads,” the study said. In 2010, there were 2,444 fatalities, while in 2019, there were 3,183. In total, from 2010 to 2019, Florida’s counties had more than 27,000 road fatalities.

The Hill reported that across the U.S., pedestrian fatalities hit a 40 year high in 2021.

As previously reported, Florida had the second most pedestrian deaths of 2021 at 899, and 716 in 2020.

According to the data analysis by 1-800-Injured, here are the top 10 counties with the most dangerous roads in Florida.

While fatalities may be high in Florida, the state also ranked No. 11 for best roads in the U.S. in terms of road quality.