Driving at night usually poses more dangers than any other time of the day but for Florida, being on the road after sundown is more dangerous than most states.
A new study conducted by Florida-based Blakely Law Firm, a car accident and personal injury firm, shows Florida ranks as the second-most dangerous state in America when it comes to night-time accidents. The results of the analysis recently published looked at data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) between 2020 to 2024 and found Florida had one of the largest increases in night-time road fatalities.
Florida posted an 84.4% increase in speeding fatalities after dark in that half decade. There were a total of 318 average annual speeding fatalities with 206.2 that occurred after dark and 111.8 during daylight hours, according to the FARS data.
Night-time road deaths accounted for 64.8% of the speeding deaths in the Sunshine State. There were a total of 1,031 speeding fatalities at night in the time frame and 559 people were killed during daytime crashes.
The only state that had a greater increase in night accident deaths was Rhode Island which saw a 107.9% jump in those fatalities. But the raw numbers were nowhere near Florida’s with 15.8 annual fatalities at night and 7.6 in the day in Rhode Island.
Florida was one of only two Southern states to be listed in the top 10 of deadly nighttime wrecks. Louisiana came in 10th with a 53.5% increase in speeding fatalities and an average of 119.4 nighttime deaths and 77.8 daytime fatalities due to speeding.
“Once darkness settles over the Sunshine State’s sprawling network of interstates and coastal routes, the landscape shifts. Familiar stretches become harder to read, fatigue sets in after long days in the heat, and the consequences of pushing the speedometer climb sharply,” the study concluded.
The safest state in the country is Alaska, according to the study. There were 10.2 fatalities at night and 12.2 during daytime hours, which accounted for a 16.4% decline. Wyoming was just ahead of Alaska coming in 49th and that was preceded by Vermont in 48th.
