A recent study ranked Florida among the top ten states for college-age drivers, with South Carolina taking the number one spot.
Florida ranks 8th, with 69.8 crashes per 100,000 residents, one-third (34%) higher than the national average of 52.2. Surprisingly, none of the metro areas ranked among the most dangerous for college students. Glades County is officially Florida’s most dangerous area for college-age drivers, with 257 crashes per 100,000 residents.
The study was conducted by personal injury lawyers at the Schiller Kessler Group.
Researchers analyzed crash fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine the most dangerous states and counties. The analysis focused on counties with driving schools, as drivers in these areas are generally less experienced. The number of fatal crashes was also adjusted based on the local population to calculate a rate per 100,000 residents.
Below is a list of the top ten riskiest states for college-age drivers.
A spokesperson from the Schiller Kessler Group said of the findings: “Being a young driver can be stressful, as there are many things to think about which become muscle memory to more practiced drivers. A lack of inexperience, an unfamiliar area with new roads, and the nerves of driving and a new school can often lead to younger drivers getting distracted while behind the wheel…New students should also practice driving in unfamiliar areas at quieter times, or with a trusted instructor who is familiar with the roads, to get them comfortable driving in a new place. Using a dashboard camera and driving a car with a black box will also help to clear young drivers of liability if they are involved in an accident that was not their fault.”
Additional Credit: injuredinflorida.com
Methodology:
Fatal crash data was gathered from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (AKA FARS) (https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars) for the years 2018 – 2022. The locations of US driving schools were scraped from Bing Maps and counted per county.
For counties with driving schools, the number of fatal crashes per 100K population was calculated and ranked from highest to lowest on a national, statewide, and county level.
