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Fort Lauderdale only has a population of 165,000, but being a popular tourist destination, it gets up to 12 million visitors each year. With so many visitors, it is not surprising that it is site to thousands of car accidents each year. In 2015, Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles statistics show that Broward County had 41,000 car crashes, of which 6,200 were in Fort Lauderdale.
Understanding the common types of accidents in Fort Lauderdale will help you avoid getting into one. This is particularly important given that Fort Lauderdale has the 2nd largest number of pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. with 100 fatalities over a period of 5 years.
When it comes to fatalities per million residents, Florida has 6%, which is close to double what the next state has. So, why is riding in a motorcycle in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere in Florida so dangerous?
Being the Sunshine State, motorcycles are very popular in Fort Lauderdale given roads that are good for motorcycling such as highways I-95 and I-75 that have long stretches of open road, the many leisure activities and beautiful scenery to enjoy (especially on A1A road which has stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean), and the fact that Florida is home to the Daytona Beach Bike Week, one of the world’s largest motorcycling events. Florida is known for its good weather, but it has 4-month hurricane season that, combined with appealing roads, make for dangerous motorcycle riding. There are close to 600,000 motorcycles in the state.
There are many motorcycle crashes in Fort Lauderdale because of a high elderly population and the many distractions, meaning people sometimes don’t see motorcycles when making turns or changing lanes.
Head-on collisions are a common type of accident throughout the U.S. In Fort Lauderdale, the most common causes of head-on collisions are distracted driving, ignoring traffic signs and signals, driving while fatigued, failure to properly adjust to low visibility or poor weather, and poor overtaking.
Alcohol is also a significant contributor to head-on collisions. 2015 Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles statistics showed that 2.4% of these accidents were alcohol related.
Finally, another common cause of Fort Lauderdale accidents is vehicle rollover collisions. The most common causes of roll-overs in Fort Lauderdale are faulty car design, defective parts, vehicle overloading, and reckless driving. For untripped crushes, speed, steering input, and friction with the ground lead to cornering forces destabilization of the vehicle. Tripped rollovers occur when there is a force from an external object such as a curb or another vehicle.
Trucks (18-wheelers) and semi-trucks are dangerous because they have large blind spots and because they cause wind turbulence. Trucks also decrease the visibility of other road users. The big number of trucks on Florida roads and the well-maintained roads (which means trucks are usually driven at high speeds) makes for a deadly combination.
Whichever way the accident has occurred, the team at the Law Offices of Ken M. Frankel Personal Injury & Medical Malpractice is here for you if you have suffered injuries. Note Florida insurance laws require that all injured persons be compensated, irrespective of who was at fault. We have been handling car accident injuries for many years and have a high success rate.
Call us today at 954.784.0800 or email us at kenfrankelinjurylaw@gmail.com for more on what we have to offer.