Tag Archive: bicycle safety

Bicycle Deaths – Florida Sets Another Record

May 18, 2015

When it comes to roadway safety, Florida has set another record – the highest rate of bicycle deaths in the nation. Florida’s lead in bicycle deaths follows another Florida record as the number one killer of pedestrians.

In terms of population, Florida is only the third largest state in the US after California and Texas so it would seem that those two states would have a much higher rate of bicycle deaths and in raw numbers, that may be true but when you compare populations, Florida has the highest rate of all.

Let’s look at how the numbers fall out.

State	Population in millions	Number of registered motor vehicles in millions	Number of cyclists killed	Rate of cyclists killed per million of population
California	38.8	33.55	141	3.68
Texas	26.96	23.87	48	1.81
Florida	19.89	19.64	133	6.8

Florida, with less than half of the population and just a little over half the number of registered vehicles of California, had just eight fewer bicycle deaths than California. When compared to the rate of bicycle deaths per million population, Florida beats every other state in the nation.

So, what’s Florida doing wrong? The League of American Bicyclists puts out a report card every year that rates states on their friendliness to cyclists. To rate states they look at;

Legislation and enforcement;
Policies and programs;
Infrastructure and funding;
Education and encouragement; and
Evaluation and planning

In their latest ranking, the League rates California as the eighth friendliest state for cyclists while it rates Florida 24th. In all five categories, California ranks near the top while Florida’s rankings are near the bottom.

The two main areas that Florida needs to work on are:

Vulnerable road user law – A law was proposed in the last session of the legislature that would have imposed higher penalties for any driver that passes or turns in front of a vulnerable road user (pedestrians, cyclists, animal riders, personal mobility devices) in an unsafe manner. The bill looked like a sure thing to pass however, in a dispute between the Florida Senate and the House, the bill failed to pass during this session.
Complete Streets – Complete Streets are roadway projects designed with both cyclists and pedestrians in mind. When widening existing roads or proposing new roadways, Florida is falling short in planning and designing for Complete Streets.