Highway Officials: Quarantine Cuts Number Of Florida Traffic Crashes In Half
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) - The number of traffic crashes in the Sunshine State dropped by 50 percent in April compared to the same time last year, according to highway officials.
With residents holed up at home, working remotely and running fewer errands, rush hour traffic has dipped considerably. Shuttered bars and restaurants has meant fewer drunk drivers on the roads. Florida drivers were involved in 16,191 crashes last month compared to 33,692 in April 2019, according to data from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The Tampa Bay Times https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/30/crashes-are-down-more-than-50-percent-across-tampa-bay-and-florida/ the dip started in March as the pandemic spread. Florida's crash data showed a 25 percent decrease in March compared to last year.
"The fewer people out driving, the less vehicle miles traveled, the less opportunity for people to do bad things," said Whit Blanton, executive director of Forward Pinellas, the county's transportation planning agency.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
