ICYMI: Study Says Florida Drivers Are 2nd Best in the Country

LAKELAND, FL — While anyone who has ever driven Interstate 4 during rush hour might beg to differ, a new study has concluded that Florida motorists are among the best in the country. The Sunshine State, in fact, ranked No. 49th overall, just behind Rhode Island, in the worst-to-best analysis.

The rankings were compiled by the automobile insurance website QuoteWizard. The number crunchers there “sampled incident data (with more than 2 million data points) from the users of our website and linearly extrapolated it to Federal Highway Administration fatality data.” Final rankings represent a sum of weighted measures that include speeding tickets, DUI arrests, fatalities, citations and total accidents.

On the scale of one to 50 with one representing the worst drivers, Utah earned the dubious first-place honor, or dishonor as the case might be. California came in a close second followed by Virginia, Maine and Nebraska in third to fifth places, respectively. The Top 5 best states also included Mississippi in third (48th), Michigan in fourth (47th) and Nevada in fifth place (46th).

As for Florida’s standing, it seems the folks at QuoteWizard were a little shocked themselves at what the numbers revealed.

“Florida is best known for two things: the 'Florida Man' headlines generated by its eccentric residents, and its many retirees,” the website noted. “You wouldn’t expect either of these demographics to produce excellent driving stats, but this sunny state has the second-best driving record in the US.”

QuoteWizard said Florida’s fatality statistics kept it out of first place. The study's authors pointed out that one data point they did not include might have skewed the rankings against Florida. “Of course, had we also considered the percentage of drivers operating their vehicles without car insurance, Florida wouldn't be anywhere close to their spot in second. Nearly 24 percent of Florida motorists are uninsured! The top cities attributing to Florida being such good drivers are Orlando, Hialeah, and Miami in that order.”

While the data points QuoteWizard used propelled Florida to number two honors, the state hasn’t scored so well in other recent driving-related studies. A 2014 study by Allstate Insurance found that drivers in Tampa were among the country’s worst. EverQuote also named Interstate 4 the country’s most dangerous in a recent analysis of fatalities per mile.

What are your thoughts about Florida drivers? Share them by commenting below!

To check out QuoteWizard’s full analysis report, visit it online.

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