Drivers beware: Florida has the worst drivers nationwide, according to a new in-depth analysis from SmartAsset.
Sitting in traffic in various parts of Florida from I-95 to the I-4 corridor can be rage-inducing for many drivers. Highway driving often turns into a brush with fate in the Sunshine State, where accidents and near-accidents occur every day. “Florida drivers are the worst!” drivers exclaim, speeding off.
It now appears those aren’t just hollow statements -- SmartAsset ranked Florida in last place as part of a new study which analyzed the number of drivers in each state, the number of DUI arrests per 1,000 drivers, percentage of insured drivers, speeding tickets and people killed per 1,000 drivers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration around 43,000 people were killed in vehicle-related incidents in 2015. Some accidents are clearly the fault of one driver like drunk driving, but there are many other ways to measure the quality of drivers nationwide.
Each category in the SmartAsset analysis was given equal weight in the rankings, and Florida ended up in last place behind Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Jersey, Delaware and Alabama. It seems the Southeast is a particularly dangerous place for drivers, with four states placing in the top 10 worst states for drivers.
Florida has the second-lowest number of insured drivers nationwide, with only 76 percent covered. The Sunshine State placed 49, only ahead of Oklahoma, where 74 percent of drivers are insured.
DUI arrests per 1,000 drivers were at 4.45, but Florida surpassed the country -- by a lot -- when it came to Google trends of searching eight phrases around “speeding tickets” and “traffic tickets” at a much higher rate than any other state. Florida ran circles around the next-worst state in this category (Alabama) by 15 points. That’s not to say Florida drivers get more speeding and traffic tickets than drivers in other states, but the searches do seem to indicate that notion.
Florida’s rate of vehicular deaths were much lower than other states, however, at .13 per 1,000 drivers. Places like Delaware and New Jersey ranked much higher in that category.
Between the Google searches and the low percentage of insured drivers, Florida ended up at the bottom of the pack.
Looks like people really can say Florida drivers are the worst after all.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
