Are Florida’s drivers really getting better?
Some studies suggest Florida drivers are getting better - Sun Sentinel
Excerpt: At times, it seems as if there are almost as many driving studies as there are drivers, but two of the latest surveys suggest Florida motorists are better than most. Florida ranks 11th among the states with the best drivers, according to Seattle-based QuoteWizard, an online insurance comparison.
Bottom line: As the Sentinel points out, there are a lot of surveys for a lot of things and they often conflict with one another. The key however, is what the methodology being used is. Often the headlines like “State with the best and worst drivers” are subjective based on what the researchers determined to be the criteria that’s important. In the case on the first cited QuoteWizard, I went straight to the source and found that they used:
- Accidents
- Speeding tickets
- DUIs
- Citations
- Fatalities
Using those criteria Florida’s 11th best in the country. But do I buy it? No, because if I were putting together criteria only two of those five, accidents and fatalities would be considered. There are too many variables with speeding tickets, DUI’s and overall citations issued. Some states and cities are more aggressive than others in issuing citations. Just because people aren’t cited doesn’t mean there aren’t people who could/should be cited for speeding/DUI’s, etc. Next up is traffic. Florida’s top ten nationally for traffic per capita. If you’re stuck in traffic, it skews the numbers, police aren’t pulling people over in bumper to bumper and/or heavy traffic which is a daily staple of South Florida. It doesn’t mean that people are driving better. In fact, how often do you see some of the worst imaginable drivers and law breaking during heavy traffic?
Using NHTSA data from 2017, accidents and deaths per mile traveled at 8th worst in Florida. That to me is the bigger tell. And it certainly doesn’t suggest that Florida’s one of the safest states to drive in as many of the surveys with convoluted methodologies would suggest.