Environmental Factors and Car Accident Injury Levels in Florida
The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) has released the Traffic Crash Facts Annual Report for 2018. Among other things, this report takes a close look at how environmental factors affect car accident injury levels in Florida.
The car accident lawyers at Chanfrau & Chanfrau have analyzed the data in this report so that they can share with their Daytona Beach, FL and Palm Coast, FL clients the environmental factors that can have the greatest impact on car accident injuries and overall crash damages.
Weather Conditions and Injury Levels
An environmental factor that has a very high impact on car accident injuries is weather conditions. Weather conditions can both increase the likelihood of an accident, and worsen the accident impact to make accident injuries greater.
While the majority of accident injuries for the year occurred when the weather was clear, data reported by the FLHSMV shows that the weather conditions that most significantly impacted injury levels in Florida include:
- Cloudy weather - Accidents in cloudy weather resulted in 523 fatal injuries, 3,080 incapacitating injuries, 10,853 non-incapacitating injuries, and 24,423 possible injuries
- Rain - Accidents that occurred in the rain resulted in 211 fatal injuries, 1,393 incapacitating injuries, 6,264 non-incapacitating injuries, and 14,391 possible injuries
- Fog, Smog, Smoke - Fog, smog, and/or smoke were a factor in 31 fatal injuries, 99 incapacitating injuries, 300 non-incapacitating injuries, and 458 possible injuries
Road Surface Conditions and Injury Levels
Road surface conditions are another environmental factor that can affect the likelihood of a car crash, as well as the severity of a collision. Most Florida accidents took place on dry roads, but some road surface conditions did result in a significant number of accident injuries:
- Wet roads - Wet roads were the most dangerous road surface condition (besides dry roads), contributing to 406 fatal injuries, 2,263 incapacitating injuries, 10,030 non-incapacitating injuries, and 23,246 possible injuries
- Mud, dirt, gravel - Muddy roads, or those with loose dirt or gravel were noted in accidents resulting in total of 6 fatal injuries, 73 incapacitating injuries, 165 non-incapacitating injuries, and 150 possible injuries
- Standing/moving water - Standing and/or moving water contributed to 2 fatal injuries, 3 incapacitating injuries, 21 non-incapacitating injuries, and 42 possible injuries
Lighting Conditions and Injury Levels
Lighting can impact visibility for Daytona Beach drivers. If drivers cannot see an obstacle in their way they may not react appropriately, which can result in severe accidents and serious accident injuries. According to the FLHSMV, the highest number of accident injuries occurred during daylight. Beyond that, the most damaging lighting conditions were:
- Dark, lighted - Accidents that took place at night on lighted roads resulted in 896 fatal injuries, 3,753 incapacitating injuries, 13,969 non-incapacitating injuries, and 30,524 possible injuries
- Dark, not lighted - Accidents on dark roads with no lights were the cause of 805 fatal injuries, 2,433 incapacitating injuries, 5,774 non-incapacitating injuries, and 8,924 possible injuries
- Dusk - Accidents occurring at dusk, or right before sunset, resulted in 108 fatal injuries, 668 incapacitating injuries, 2,350 non-incapacitating injuries, and 5,563 possible injuries
Road Contributing Circumstance and Injury Levels
Finally, when examining environmental factors, the FLHSMV looked at road contributing circumstances and how these impacted injury levels. Road contributing circumstances that were a large factor in injury levels in 2018 include:
- Road surface conditions - Overall, poor road surface conditions were noted in 108 fatal injuries, 510 incapacitating injuries, 2,520 non-incapacitating injuries, and 5,571 possible injuries
- Work zone - Car accidents in work zones resulted in 25 fatal injuries, 79 incapacitating injuries, 326 non-incapacitating injuries, and 894 possible injuries
- Obstruction in roadway - Obstructions in the road were a contributing factor in 15 fatal injuries, 35 incapacitating injuries, 165 non-incapacitating injuries, and 290 possible injuries
Contact Chanfrau & Chanfrau
Regardless of what type of environmental factors may contribute to an accident, liable drivers should be held accountable for the damages they cause. To learn how the attorneys at Chanfrau & Chanfrau can help you collect compensation for car accident losses, send us a message online, or call our law firm at (386) 258-7313.