Comparing Car Accident Rates in Miami with Other Major U.S. Cities

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Car Accident Attorney

Oct 04, 2024

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There are approximately 9,937 car accidents each day in the United States. That number is not evenly distributed through each state. Certain states have far more accidents than others and it is not necessarily based on population. Likewise, there are certain cities where more traffic accidents take place than others. Understanding why these accidents take place is an important step in preventing them.

Which Cities Have the Most Accidents?

There have been a variety of different studies and news reports about which cities are the most dangerous for drivers and which are the safest. Knowing which of those studies to trust when it comes to Miami car accident statistics can be challenging.

According to U.S. News and World Report, the safest city to drive in is Boston, Massachusetts. Memphis, Tennessee is the least safe. An organization called Clever Move reported that Jacksonville, Florida is the most dangerous city in which to drive a car. Outdoorsy.com reports that Dallas, Texas is the most dangerous place for drivers. It is important to look for a well-researched, comprehensive report when determining which cities have the most dangerous roads.

The United States Department of Transportation recently published its annual study. It was compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It lists the number of traffic accidents, injuries, and causes of those accidents by both state and city. It also lists the ages of drivers involved in collisions and the role that alcohol and drugs played. 

The study lists the vehicle types involved in the accidents as well as the restraints that were used. It also details the type of accidents that took place. It is a thoroughly researched study that considers every element of traffic safety.

The last NHTSA study was done in 2020. It is one of the best studies to use when comparing traffic accidents in Miami to other cities.

Miami Versus Other Cities Car Accident Comparison

There have been several studies on car accident rates in major U.S. cities. The states with the most fatal accidents according to the NHTSA study include: 

  1. Texas
  2. California 
  3. Florida 
  4. Georgia 
  5. North Carolina

The cities with the most accidents include:

  1. Los Angeles, CA 
  2. Houston, TX
  3. New York, NY
  4. Dallas, TX 
  5. Phoenix, AZ

Comparing car accident rates in major cities in the U.S. can be like comparing apples to oranges. Many things can cause a city to have a high rate of accidents. In some cases, the design of a city’s roads may cause cars to collide. People tend to speed when they are alone or in very light traffic on a long stretch of highway. If a car suddenly appears from the on-ramp, a speeding car may not have enough time to stop.

When you compare Miami’s traffic safety versus other U.S. cities, you must consider the high rate of tourism.  Every year millions of out-of-towners come to visit Miami. There are always a lot of tourists on the road. When a person is not familiar with the roads in a city, they are more inclined to get confused and have a crash. Possibly the most dangerous intersection in Miami is SW 117th Avenue and 152 Street where there are six lanes in both directions. This can be terribly confusing to people who do not drive this road every day.

Miami Traffic Accident Analysis

Because Miami is home to many boats, bridges are often lifted to let them through. This can be highly frustrating. It can cause drivers to be aggressive and speed to get across the bridge before it goes up. Sometimes people will take crazy chances just to avoid being stuck in bridge traffic. They may weave in and out of traffic erratically to cross the bridge before it goes up.

Drunk driving tends to be prevalent not in Miami, but in small rural towns across America. Wyoming is home to three of the cities that see the majority of drunk driving accidents in a typical year. 

Miami Car Crash Data

There are a few different reasons that Miami has so many accidents. Miami traffic accident analysis has shown that there are some accidents that are more prevalent than others. 

Speeding 

Florida is an absolute speed state. This means that if you go even one mile above the speed limit, you can get a ticket. With a maximum speed limit of 70, it is not one of the states that allow people to drive at unusually high speeds. As in most states, you can get a ticket for driving too slow if you impede traffic.

Despite having reasonable speed limits, one of the main causes of accidents in the state of Florida is speeding. It is one of the main causes of collisions in Miami as well.

A recent article in the Miami Times speculates that people may speed and drive aggressively because there is so much traffic in town. They may also speed up to make up for lost time. 

People from all over the world visit Magic City. Visitors may be ignorant of the law. Street signs can be hard to see, and some drivers may not realize that the speed limit has changed. 

Accidents WIth Fixed Objects

There are an unusually large number of accidents with stationary objects in the state of Florida. These kinds of collisions tend to happen when a driver swerves to avoid hitting something on the road. Florida has a lot of wildlife, and drivers often swerve to avoid hitting animals, such as ducks.

Miami has more pedestrians and bicyclists than most cities do. Drivers often swerve to avoid hitting them. If a person is driving distracted, they will not react in time to stop their car before a collision with another car. 

Hit and Run Accidents

Hit-and-run accidents have been steadily on the rise for the last 10 years. California has far more hit-and-run accidents than any other state in the country. Florida has the third most hit-and-run accidents in the U.S.

There were 21,410 hit-and-run accidents In the Miami-Dade County area in 2021. 3,764 people suffered injuries in these accidents, and 43% of those people died.

In 2022, there were 21,786 total hit-and-run crashes. 3,467 people were seriously injured, and 35 of them died. 

There is a hit-and-run crash about every 43 seconds in the United States. Pedestrians are most often the victims of hit-and-run accidents. If two cars collide and one drives off, the other driver might try to follow them if their car is operational. A pedestrian will not be able to do this.

Only about half of hit-and-run drivers are caught. Those drivers are usually men. A person who hits and runs might be motivated by a lack of automobile insurance or the fact that they have warrants for their arrest.

Car Accident Statistics for 2022 Compared to 2021

The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Department put out an annual report of all the crashes that have taken place in the state each year. 

In 2021, Miami/Dade County had a total of 62,536 crashes. 19,397 of those accidents involved injuries. There were 323 fatalities as a result of the collisions. 54 of those deaths were of motorcyclists. There were 1509 pedestrians involved in accidents, and 95 of them were fatal. 795 accidents involved bicycles. Bike accidents resulted in 17 deaths.

The year 2022 saw 63,507 crashes in Miami/Dade County. Of those, 19,555 resulted in injuries, and 305 resulted in death. 44 Motorcyclists lost their lives. 17 of the people who died were on bicycles. Cars hit 1,792 pedestrians, and 88 of those accidents were fatal. 1,010 of the crashes involved motorcycles, and 54 of those motorcycles were fatally injured. 

How are the Miami Road Safety Statistics Used?

When you hear or read about Miami car accident trends and the fatalities that they cause, it can be easy to get depressed. However, those studies serve a good purpose. Experts want to see what is causing those accidents and figure out how to prevent them. 

Once they look at the numbers, they will look for any trends that they might find. For example, if the statistics reveal that incidents of sideswiping are on the rise, statisticians might look at the roads where sides-swiping most typically occurs. They may notice that the lines dividing the lanes are fading away. Statisticians would then determine that people are having sideswipe accidents because they cannot see where one lane ends and another begins.

Miami Car Accident Prevention

Some states will tighten traffic laws and increase punishment to discourage people from driving recklessly. Automobile manufacturers may look at the statistics to determine what causes a particular type of crash. If they notice a certain phenomenon causing car accidents, they will work hard to build a safety accessory to prevent that situation. 

An example of this is the accessories recently created to fight driver fatigue. Statistics showed that many people got into accidents because they were simply tired. Automobile manufacturers invented fatigue monitors that tell people when to take a break and offer a list of hotels, truck stops, and restaurants in the area.
There is a lot that goes into compiling Miami accident statistics. It is the best idea to obey the rules of the road and drive defensively. If you are suffering from accident injuries, CarAccidentAttorney.com can find you a Miami car accident lawyer. Call us today.