DO FLORIDA’S DRIVERS
get a bad rap, or are they among the worst in the country? The answer depends on what survey you read.
National surveys frequently rank Florida at or near the top of the list of the worst drivers in the country — but is it the drivers who are bad or those doing the polling?
“You’ve got to take them with a grain of salt,” Matt Nasworthy, traffic safety consultant with AAA, said of the surveys.
For example: insurance industry surveys can look at fatal crash and property damage statistics or ask about driving habits or rely on traffic ticket web searches.
Some even look at the colors of cars. The drivers of black or red cars are the most aggressive while yellow cars have the most courteous drivers, if you believe CheapInsurance.net.
Smart Access, a financial firm offering loans and insurance, released a survey Aug. 10 declaring Florida the state with the worst drivers in the nation. Yet Allstate’s annual Best Drivers Report of 200 cities this year ranked Cape Coral fourth best in the nation and Fort Lauderdale at 61.
Other common driving complaints include tailgating, running red lights and stop signs, speeding, motorcycles zipping between vehicles and drivers who block intersections.
From a law enforcement perspective, one of the biggest contributing factors to Florida’s poor reputation — and true tragedy on the road — is distracted drivers.
“The statistics may not show it but how many of these crashes are being caused by people on cellphones?” said Sgt. Mark Wysocky, with the Florida Highway Patrol.
Anyone in a survey will likely say their state has the worst drivers, Nasworthy said, because most people don’t drive in enough states to compare.
"Our state faces challenges just like every other one but we haven’t seen that [Florida] has the worst drivers in the country," he said.