Many a disparaging remark has been made about Miami drivers and all their red flags, but this time, it really wasn’t us.
A new study conducted and published by board-certified personal injury attorneys Dismuke Law has ranked the nation’s deadliest cities for car crashes and—surprise!—Miami didn’t crack the top 10. Not too far north, though, Fort Lauderdale landed in the fifth spot.
South Florida drivers, beware: According to the study, Fort Lauderdale had a fatality rate of 21.09 per 100,000 people between 2017 and 2021, ranking our “Venice of America” among the top 10 U.S. cities with the highest car crash fatality rate. No other Florida cities made the list.
Using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), researchers looked at fatal car crashes in the most populous cities nationwide. The fatality rate was determined by examining the number of crashes against each city's population. The data was measured for every 100,000 people in each city.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana ranked as the deadliest city, having the highest rate of fatal crashes (25.49 per 100,000). Memphis, Tennessee and Macon-Bibb, Georgia ranked second and third, respectively.
On the other end of the spectrum, Cary Town, North Carolina is the least deadly city to drive in, according to the study, with a rate of just 1.52 car crash fatalities per 100,000 people.
Another surprise? The city with the fifth-lowest fatality rate is New York City, with a rate of 2.60 per 100,000 people.