https://flhsmv.gov/pdf/crashreports/crash_facts_2017.pdf
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles keeps statistics on crashes, ages of those involved, confounding factors, fatalities, injuries, etc. If you have some time to kill (no pun intended), it's actually an interesting read. And a strange mix of trends.
For some good news, fatalities of drivers from drinking has taken a precipitous drop from 2016 to 2017, a whopping -18.87% across the state, and a staggering -33.3% in Orange County, though the figures are in the double digits, so even slight reductions amount to larger percentages. But it's a very encouraging trend. The bad news on impairment? Well, drug related fatalities are up both in Florida and in Orange County. The report states that there has been a 33.3% increase in those in Orange County, and healthy increase for the state.
Other things that stuck out to me as odd, the overwhelming majority of fatal crashes occurred under these circumstances, separately:
Clear Conditions
Dry Roads
Daylight
No Road Conditions Contributing to the Crash
In other words, the best possible conditions for driving. Somehow, an overwhelming number of fatalities occurred under these conditions. Now, it could be that these conditions occur the majority of the time in the Sunshine State, and it may also draw out some vulnerable road users like motorcyclists. But it's definitely a surprise.
A plurality of deaths occurred on state roads, at 886. Tollways and the Turnpike? 41. Maybe tolls do keep the riff raff out...
Claims of property damage from crashing is up a sobering 9.8% in Orange County from 2016 to 2017. The total claims are 17,121, so this is not really a statistical quirk. There is just more damage.
For Pedestrians, things aren't looking too good. The numbers are up a full 24.49%, and while the numbers are small at 61 for 2017, the figures were only 49 and 38 for 2016 and 2015 respectively. I hope it's not a trend.
Cyclists fared much better in Orange County, with only 6 fatalities in 2017. There has been exactly a 0% increase/decrease over 2016. 2015 was 10 total deaths, so things have improved somewhat, but mode share here is very low, so it's not clear from this if things are truly safer. But you can draw from the number of crashes between cars and bicycles, they fare better than pedestrians by a factor of 10 in avoiding a deadly crash.
What about helmet use? Well, it's murky. There were 13 recorded deaths for those wearing helmets. There were 100 for those labeled as using 'none.' However this is not a lack of a helmet, but rather a lack of the following: Reflective Clothing (7 deaths), Lighting (15 Deaths), Other (1 Death), or presumably state required reflectors on the bicycle. It's just not possible to disentangle these statistics to understand if 1) those 100 would have survived had they worn a helmet or 2) if they had ANY kind of protective or visibility enhancing equipment. The mystery continues.
On weekdays, it appears that the most deadly time is somewhere around 7 or 8pm. On Saturday, it's more like between 7pm and 2am. This is around the time the sun sets, so it stands to reason that maybe conditions at that time of day lead to more fatalities. However, we don't see a similar spike at sunrise. Perhaps people are fresh off a good night's sleep, and less distracted than they are at the end of the day, or after a happy hour?
The most dangerous age group...Pimply Faced Teenagers? Crotchety Septuagenarian Sunday Drivers? Nope. 20's. 21-29 are the most dangerous and most likely to suffer fatal crashes. Who would have thought? Teens tragically have a large number of fatal crashes as well. For those over 65, fatalities tick up, most likely due to the susceptibility of deadly head injuries. Time for everyone to bust out those DOT rated helmets for their cars, right?
The deadliest vehicle was a passengar car, which was three times as deadly as an SUV. Motorcycles came in a close second.
So, for the final and most compelling stat, what was the most commonly attributed cause to motorist deaths in 2017? Drumroll please...
"Operated MV in Careless or Negligent Manner" resulting in 765 fatalities.
the runner up?
"Failed to Yield Right of Way" resulting in 559 fatalities.
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