Escambia County is ranked No. 20 in traffic fatalities for mid-sized metros

Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal
·2 min read

If you’ve ever pulled out onto a road in Escambia County, you might not be surprised to find that it was recently ranked No. 20 in traffic fatalities among counties in the United States with populations between 150,000 and 499,999.

Convoy Car Shipping, a nationwide car delivery service, conducted a study of traffic fatalities in the U.S. using data provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatalities Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Escambia County had 313 traffic fatalities between 2017 and 2021, which resulted in 9.63 deaths per 10,000 people. U.S. Highway 90 was the deadliest road in the county, with 52 deaths.

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Several other Florida counties made the list, including Marion County (No. 5) with a traffic fatality rate of 11.65, Citrus County (No. 13) at 10.15 and Alachua County (No. 14) at 9.96.

Ector County, Texas, topped the list with 257 traffic fatalities over the four-year period. It had a traffic fatality rate of 15.98.

What are the deadliest counties in Florida for traffic fatalities (population 500,000+)?

  • 1. Volusia County, pop. 579,192: 648 deaths, 11.19 per 10,000 people.

    • Deadliest road: U.S. 1, 82 deaths.

  • 4. Polk County, pop. 787,404: 675 deaths, 8.57 per 10,000 people.

    • Deadliest road: U.S. 27 & S.R. 60 (tied). 70 deaths.

  • 6. Pasco County, pop. 608,794: 515 deaths, 8.46 per 10,000 people.

    • Deadliest road: U.S. 19, 112 deaths.

  • 7. Duval County, pop. 1,016,536: 830 deaths, 8.16 per 10,000 people.

    • Deadliest road: U.S. 90, 91 deaths.

  • 17. Hillsborough County, pop. 1,513,301: 1,069 deaths, 7.06 per 10,000 people.

    • Deadliest road: U.S. 41, 101 deaths.

  • 18. Brevard County, pop. 630,693: 435 deaths, 6.9 per 10,000 people.

    • Deadliest road: U.S. 1, 96 deaths.

What are the deadliest counties in Florida for traffic fatalities (population 0-149,000)?

Florida’s smaller counties fared better. Hardee County was the only one on the list. With a population of 25,645, it saw 58 deaths between 2017 and 2021. That’s a per capita rate of 22.62 per 10,000 people.

What is the deadliest county in the U.S. for traffic fatalities per capita?

Loving County, Texas, is the deadliest place per capita for traffic fatalities. The county only had 15 traffic-related deaths, but with a population of 57 at the time, it had a per capita rate of 2,491 per 10,000 people.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Escambia traffic fatalities is ranked No. 20 in the U.S.