Seems the locals don’t believe what the experts at WalletHub say about the Orlando driving experience. WDBO is skeptical.
“REALLY? WALLETHUB RANKS ORLANDO AS 3RD BEST US CITY FOR DRIVING”
WFTV is also incredulous: “Orlando is (somehow) the 3rd best U.S. city to drive in, study says”
Orlando Business Journal isn’t buying it either: “Orlando a top city for drivers — wait, what?”
Maybe it’s the ever-rising number of Orlando traffic accidents. Or the never-ending I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project. Maybe the fact the millions of disoriented tourists hop onto Orlando’s unfamiliar roads in rental cars every year. Or the thousands distracted driving accidents on Florida’s roads. Maybe the seemingly endless traffic jams in Central Florida.
So how did WalletHub come up with the outlandish claim that Orlando is the 3rd best city in America for drivers?
” …some cities are better for those behind the wheel. To determine those places, WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 29 key indicators of driver-friendliness. Our data set ranges from average gas prices to annual hours in traffic congestion per auto commuter to auto-repair shops per capita.”
It may be true that Orlando has high-quality roads and bridges, which is one of the indicators. But another indicator in the survey is that Orlando is driver friendly because there are more car repair shops than elsewhere. But that begs the question of why that would be. There’s only one reason that a city would be keeping more than the usual number of car body repair shops in business.
Orlando Traffic Accidents Tell a Different Tale
The fact is that Orlando consistently ranks at or near the top of every other national survey for dangerous roads. I-4 generally rates as one of the most dangerous roads in America. Glen Victor, a spokesman for the Florida Safety Council, has perhaps the most obvious explanation. A record number of tourists, 72 million, visited Orlando last year. Victor told Fox 35 Orlando that tourism may be an economic blessing, but it’s a curse to highway safety. “What’s the first thing they do when they get off the plane?” he asked. “They rent a car that they’re not familiar with and they’re on their GPS, so they’re looking at the phone and their GPS which, of course, is a distraction while they’re driving.”
If you’ve become a victim of negligence, a good Orlando personal injury lawyer can help you recover your losses. Contact the Orlando car accident attorneys at Martinez Manglardi, PA. We have offices throughout Florida and have been helping those injured in accidents in Florida for more than 30 years. Call 407-846-2240 for a free consultation.
