Car Accidents Have Increased in Texas and Florida for a Similar Reason
Lisa Steuer McArdle
· 3 min read
The states of Texas and Florida have some similarities—they are both in the South and have warm weather year round. They also both have coasts and as a result, are known to get severe weather like hurricanes.
According to our data here at
Jerry
, the two states have something else in common—they’re both seeing increases in car accidents caused by weather. As the data reveals, weather-related car accidents are increasing in some states more than others. Here’s a closer look at what the data says.
About the car accident study
Jerry analyzed crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) from 2005-2019. Climate-related crashes were those where weather events like rain, snow, fog, or clouds, among others, were listed on the crash report as the cause of the crash.
Not surprisingly, the data revealed that states with large coastlines are most impacted by climate conditions. In fact, Texas, California, and Florida were at the top of the list for states with the largest average increases in climate-related crashes year over year.
D.C., Rhode Island, and Vermont had the lowest average change in crash numbers year over year.
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Additional insights from the study
MORE: How Sleet, Hail, and Freezing Rain Can Affect Your Drive
In general, Jerry found that weather-related crashes are increasing. Our report indicates that weather-related crashes have increased by an average of 397 incidents annually in the last 14 years. That’s an increase of 72% from 2005-2019.
To put it simply, weather-related crashes have almost doubled (from 4,813 to 8,277) over the 14-year period.
Car accidents and weather over the years
Interestingly, we found that cloudiness, which impacts visibility according to the NHTSA, is the weather condition that has increased the most over the years. Rain and cloud-related crashes saw a mini peak in 2015, while rain-related crashes steadily increased in 2016.
While our data report didn’t look at the specific weather patterns that are contributing to the car accidents in each state, icy weather in Texas over the years may be to blame, according to the
Dallas Morning News
.
Throughout the state’s history, ice and sleet have surprisingly been a huge problem for Texas motorists. According to the
Texas Department of Insurance
, a reported motor vehicle crash occurs on a Texas road every 56 seconds. In addition, more than 10% of crashes (almost 60,000) are due to poor weather conditions like rain, wind, snow, ice, sleet, and fog.Just this past February, there was a massive car accident that involved more than 130 vehicles on an icy Texas interstate near Fort Worth that left six people dead and dozens injured. In Florida, the frequent rainfall may have increased the risk of car accidents.
A 2019 report by
ABC Action News
indicated that every year, nearly 5,000 people are killed in weather-related crashes and over 418,000 are injured, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.In addition, most of those car crashes reportedly happen during the rainfall. The department found that 70% of crashes happen on wet pavement and 46% happen during rainfall.
You’ll want to make sure you have adequate car insurance to keep you protected on the road.
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can help you compare rates from 50 top providers to get you the best coverage at the best price.
