A new study by a personal injury law firm reveals that Liberty County leads the state in the number of vehicle accidents at intersections among the 67 counties in Florida.
Blakeley Law Firm conducted an analysis that examined crash data from all counties between 2019 and 2023. The study found that Liberty County far exceeds the rest of Florida in terms of crashes at crossroads.
“Liberty County ranks first for intersection crash risk in Florida, reporting 19.3 intersection-related incidents per 100,000 residents, nearly three times the statewide average of 6.8. Between 2019 and 2023, Liberty County, home to just 7,767 residents, recorded an average of 1.5 intersection incidents,” the study found.
Blakeley analysts drew upon county-level intersection data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Crash Data and Analysis information to determine the list.
While Liberty County, located in the inland Panhandle area just west of Tallahassee, had a troubled record for motorists at intersections, it shared the same higher-crash statistics with other counties of similar small populations. The top 10 counties in the ranking were all areas with significantly fewer residents than larger metropolitan areas.
The smaller counties don’t have the higher-profile traffic control mechanisms at intersections that larger counties do. And there aren’t as many intersections, analysts concluded.
“The high rates in these areas underscore systemic issues such as inadequate traffic infrastructure, insufficient signage, and a lack of targeted safety measures,” the study stated, and it made recommendations.
“To protect residents and reduce these dangerous incidents, it is crucial for policymakers and local authorities to prioritize investments in intersection safety improvements, implement robust public awareness campaigns, and strengthen traffic law enforcement.”
Hamilton County, for instance, with a population of approximately 14,000, located just to the east of Tallahassee and bordering Georgia, ranked second on the list with 18.3 incidents at intersections per 100,000 residents. That’s 2.5 times the average in the state in those four years. That came out to be about 5.6 incidents per year.
Levy County on the Nature Coast came in third with 12.7 incidents per 100,000 residents at intersections, approximately twice the statewide average in a county with about 44,100 residents. That averages out to about 5.6 intersection-related wrecks per year.
The remaining counties in the top 10 are also relatively low-population locales. Taylor County came in fourth, followed by Lafayette, Franklin, DeSoto, Hardee, Glades, and Madison, which rounded out the top tier list, respectively.
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