The lack of highway safety measures is causing too many car crashes in Florida, putting the state’s drivers in the “Danger” zone, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates).
The group’s annual rating of state government efforts to reduce the increasing death toll on the nation’s roadways, the Roadmap to Safety, says that Florida needs to enact and enforce more than a dozen laws to clean up its act.
Advocates publish the annual report as a tool for the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Congress, and state legislators to identify legislation to help curb the extraordinary death toll on the nation’s highways. More than 115 people are killed in car accidents across the country every year. Car crashes in Florida kill nearly 3,000 people every year and injure more than 165,000, That works out to more than 1,000 car accidents every day. Orange County car crashes alone total more than 30,000 annually.
The group attributes many of the car accident deaths and injuries to speeding, drunk driving and not wearing a seat belt, but says that state and federal highway safety laws can go a long way toward saving lives.
“The 2023 Roadmap to Safety marks the 20th edition of our report. Over that time, more than three-quarters of a million people have been killed and 51.5 million more have been injured in motor vehicle crashes. This year’s report cover features the photos of a mere a fraction of the people killed in crashes. Last year, motor vehicle crashes claimed 42,915 lives. This was a 10.5 percent increase over the previous year” ,Advocates President Cathy Chase said.
Reducing Car Crashes in Florida
“Early data from the first six months of 2022 show deaths persist at egregiously high levels,” Chase told reporters. “Moreover, crashes injure millions of people each year and impose a comprehensive cost on society of more than one trillion dollars. This amounts to a crash tax of nearly $950 for every person living in the U.S. This horrific toll must serve as a blaring wake-up call to policymakers at all levels of government to take action to reverse this upward trajectory. Advocates’ Roadmap to Safety provides a blueprint for such action.”
According to Advocates, car crashes in Florida cost the state nearly $14 billion every year in medical expenses, property damage, and lost productivity. The group is advocating the Florida enact the following highway safety measures in order to reduce the number of car crashes in Florida:
• Primary Enforcement Rear Seat Belt Law
• All-Rider Motorcycle Helmet Law
• Rear Facing Through Age 2 or Older Law
• Booster Seat Law
• Rear Seat Through Age 12 Law
• Minimum Ages for Learner’s Permit and Licensing
• 70 Hours of Supervised Driving Provision
• Nighttime Driving Restriction Provision
• Passenger Restriction Provision
• All-Offender Ignition Interlocks
• GDL Cell Phone Restriction
• Permits Automated Enforcement by Law
• Automated Enforcement in Use
Car crashes in Florida can be devastating for injured car accident victims. If you’ve been injured, call 866-730-3508 for a free consultation with an Orlando car accident attorney at the Martinez Manglardi personal injury law firm. Convenient locations throughout Central Florida.
