Good news, roads are becoming safer. Bad news, not in Florida
Bottom Line: The DOT released its annual report of Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes and the news was generally good across the country. Highlights included...
- 2.4% decrease in automotive deaths
- 3.6% decrease in fatal accidents involving impaired drivers
That’s real progress and a deeper dive will probably reveal ride sharing and the ease of using a service like Uber and Lyft rather than driving under the influence is likely saving lives. While I wait to be able to definitively pull that kind of information together – there's this. The news wasn’t as good in Florida.
Florida actually experienced a half percent increase in deadly accidents last year, bucking the national trend entirely. Yes, our population grew faster than the national average but that still doesn’t explain away the difference. We did see a decrease in impaired driving deaths as well, although at 3.2% that was also below the national average.
For now, I’ll take the good news where we can get it. It’s clear in Florida and across the country, fewer people are choosing to drive while intoxicated. That’s encouraging. If we can grow that trend,we’ll find Florida joining the rest of the country with fewer fatal accidents in the future.