Top down, sun shining on your face, wind blowing through your hair—driving around South Florida may sound idyllic in theory, but in reality, those streets are paved with risks, per a new driving safety report. According to a new nationwide study by family safety app Life360, Florida has the highest percentage of crashes of any state in the country, with Miami and its surrounding areas being a major culprit of both frequent rapid acceleration and hard braking.
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Life360 derived its driving data from 60 billion proprietary data points collected across over 55 million opted-in users, focusing their analysis on four core behavior indicators—crashes, speeding, hard braking, and rapid acceleration—all of which contribute to higher crash risks. A state-by-state heat map revealed alarming trends in regions across the US, with data showing that the South, and Florida in particular, are consistent hotspots for dangerous driving behaviors.
In fact, five Floridian destinations—Tampa, Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale—can be founded in the eight highest crash cities in America. And Fort Lauderdale ranks second nationally in rapid acceleration, a fact associated with a higher risk of accidents.
Elsewhere, California-based drivers, especially those in Riverside, San Diego, Anaheim and Los Angeles, are marked by their aggression behind the wheel, seen in their frequent use of rapid acceleration, hard braking, and speeding; while Arizona tops the nation in speeding, no matter urban highways or rural roads.
And distracted driving—no doubt a dangerous result of the entire country being unhealthily obsessed with their phones—is a national issue: Life360 reports that 86-percent of drivers admit to being distracted by technology while driving while 27-percent have changed clothes or applied makeup while being behind the wheel. And nearly half (42-percent, to be exact) of Gen Z drivers have concerningly admitted to watching videos online while putting pedal to the metal.
"Safer roads start with awareness, accountability, and the right tools," reads the Life360 study. "Eyes up, phones down—let’s build better driving habits together." We couldn't have said it better ourselves!