What is Florida's road fatality rate?

Florida has a road fatality rate of 15.0 per 100,000 population and 1.4 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 22.9% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Florida in 2023?

In 2023, Florida recorded 3,396 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 29,564.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Florida?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 55.2% of all fatalities (16,317 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Florida?

Road fatalities in Florida are increasing with a +15.6% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 2,938 in 2015 to 3,396 in 2023.

How does Florida compare to the national average for road safety?

Florida's fatality rate of 15.0 per 100K is 22.9% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Florida ranks #15 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Florida's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 20.6% of road fatalities in Florida, representing 6,076 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 9.9% and pedestrian incidents for 21.7%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Florida?

In Florida, urban roads account for more fatalities: 7,305 rural vs. 21,972 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 24.7% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Florida: higher-rate fatality band

Florida is in the higher per-capita third: 3,396 traffic deaths in 2023 at 15.0 per 100,000 (#15 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

3,396
Deaths (2023): 15.0
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.4
Per 100M VMT: -152
2022–2023 deaths

Larger fatality book

Florida ranks #3 of 51 by total FARS fatalities (29,564 across 2015-2023) - top-third book size.

Florida in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Florida sits in the higher-rate third at 15.0 per 100k (#15 of 51), 23% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#15 of 51
higher-rate third: 15.0/100k
2023 fatality rate: #3/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

FARS milepost strip

Milepost FL · Florida #15 of 51 · 15.0/100k

Florida · 15.0/100k · 3,396 in 2023 · #15 of 51

PHOTO 15.0/100k
YOY #15 of 51
FARS 1.4/100M
NHTSA 29,564 book
MILE near South Dakota
BAND 9.9% spd
POST 21.7% ped
RATE +22.9% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

32/100

Florida

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F

15.0/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.42/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety F

21.7%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control A

20.6%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+15.6%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Florida

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Florida's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 22.0%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 44.0% · 1,485
Pedestrian 22.0% · 741
Pedalcyclist 6.8% · 231
Tree (Standing Only) 4.8% · 163
Curb 4.4% · 150

Light condition

Daylight 38.6% · 1,303
Dark - Lighted 30.0% · 1,013
Dark - Not Lighted 25.4% · 858
Dusk 3.3% · 113
Dawn 1.9% · 63

Roadway class

State Highway 27.9% · 942
U.S. Highway 21.8% · 736
Municipal 16.8% · 566
County 11.9% · 401
Interstate 9.5% · 322

Weather at crash

Clear 79.9% · 2,695
Cloudy 13.3% · 449
Rain 5.2% · 174
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.4% · 47

Texas

14
North Carolina

14
Georgia

15
West Virginia

15
Florida

15
South Dakota

15

What this shows Florida sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

55
Unrestrained

34
Weather-Related

23
Pedestrian

22
Alcohol-Impaired

21
Speeding

10

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Florida, involved in 55.2% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Florida vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

15 Around the middle a lower per-capita rate than 27% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Florida plotted against a representative sample of 26 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Florida can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Florida's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Florida moved from 2,938 deaths in 2015 to 3,396 in 2023 (+15.6%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	2,938	13.0	708	317	629
2016	3,176	14.0	722	309	653
2017	3,116	13.8	705	302	654
2018	3,135	13.9	692	305	706
2019	3,185	14.1	693	295	714
2020	3,329	14.7	788	287	695
2021	3,741	16.5	704	394	819
2022	3,548	15.7	615	388	780
2023	3,396	15.0	449	335	771

Per-capita county spikes in Florida: Glades and Hardee

Fatalities are spread across 67 Florida counties (no single county exceeds 12% of the book). Per-capita leaders are Glades (86.0/100k) and Hardee (58.2/100k), while volume still ranks Miami-Dade first.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	MIAMI-DADE (86)	2,472	329	274.7	↑ increasing
2	BROWARD (11)	1,965	207	218.3	↑ increasing
3	HILLSBOROUGH (57)	1,754	231	194.9	↑ increasing
4	PALM BEACH (99)	1,524	193	169.3	↑ increasing
5	ORANGE (95)	1,479	175	164.3	↑ increasing
6	DUVAL (31)	1,302	166	144.7	↑ increasing
7	POLK (105)	1,103	157	122.6	↑ increasing
8	VOLUSIA (127)	1,013	113	112.6	↑ increasing
9	PINELLAS (103)	987	113	109.7	↑ increasing
10	LEE (71)	890	122	98.9	↑ increasing
11	PASCO (101)	800	94	88.9	↑ increasing
12	MARION (83)	747	103	83.0	↑ increasing
13	BREVARD (9)	741	107	82.3	↑ increasing
14	MANATEE (81)	532	71	59.1	↑ increasing
15	OSCEOLA (97)	520	80	57.8	↑ increasing
16	LAKE (69)	502	85	55.8	↑ increasing
17	ESCAMBIA (33)	476	62	52.9	↑ increasing
18	SARASOTA (115)	465	60	51.7	↑ increasing
19	ALACHUA (1)	439	58	48.8	↑ increasing
20	ST LUCIE (111)	347	52	38.6	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 67 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, South Dakota (15.2/100k) and West Virginia (14.7/100k) sit closest to Florida's 15.0 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Florida's fatality rate.

South Dakota

15.2 per 100K

140 fatalities (2023)

West Virginia

14.7 per 100K

260 fatalities (2023)

Georgia

14.6 per 100K

1,615 fatalities (2023)

North Carolina

14.4 per 100K

1,561 fatalities (2023)

Texas

14.1 per 100K

4,291 fatalities (2023)

Idaho

14.0 per 100K

275 fatalities (2023)

Glades-rate peers and Florida road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Florida (#15 of 51; volume #3/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →