I-4 Named Country’s Most Dangerous Interstate

LAKELAND, FL — A new analysis of federal crash data has uncovered what many motorists in Tampa Bay and throughout the state of Florida already know: Interstate 4 is dangerous.

The analysis was conducted by EverQuote, an online auto insurance marketplace. Based on raw data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality Analysis Report System collected between 2010 and 2015, EverQuote calculated fatality rates based on highway lengths. When numbers were crunched related to different interstates across the country, I-4 earned the dubious honor of being named the country’s most dangerous.

EverQuote's study concluded the 132-mile stretch of road that runs from Tampa to Daytona Beach, had 1.41 fatalities per mile collectively over the past six years. Texas’ Interstate 45 came in second with 1.24 fatalities per mile collectively over the past 6 years. The 285-mile road runs between Houston and Dallas.

I-4 wasn’t the only interstate in Florida to make the list either. Interstate 95, which runs 1,926 miles from Miami to Houlton, Maine, came in fifth on the list with 0.89 fatalities per mile during the collective 6-year period. Interstate 10, which runs 2,460 miles from Jacksonville to Santa Monica, California, came in seventh with 0.85 fatalities per mile.

While EverQuote honed in on federal data for its fatality analysis, it also used data gleaned from its safe-driving app EverDrive to delve into the issue of distracted driving.

“Distracted driving fatalities increased 8.8% in 2015 and distraction is believed to be responsible for 10% of all fatal crashes,” EverQuote wrote in its analysis. “For the first six months of 2016, traffic fatalities were also up 10.4% compared to the first half of last year. While it’s difficult to say for sure what impacts these crashes, there are some commonalities between the most lethal interstates, including high traffic volume, risky driving habits and a lack of distracted driving legislation.”

The secondary analysis showed that American drivers are distracted by their phones on roughly 31 percent of all drives. An estimated 11 percent of drives have a distraction that lasts more than one minute while 29 percent of distractions occur at speeds over 56 mph, the analysis report said. The data used for the analysis represents more than 6 million trips and 80 million miles of driving, EverQuote said. Phone use was measured by a driver’s phone motion while driving.

Not surprisingly, Florida was named one of the most dangerous states in the distracted driving department.

“Our EverDrive data found that Florida drivers use their phone on average 1.4 phone uses per trip and the state ranks 2nd worst nationally for phone use while driving,” the report said.

For more information about EverQuote, visit the company’s website. More information about the EverDrive app can be found here.

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