Florida Traffic Fatality & Catastrophic Crash Statistics — 2024 Analysis
Key findings
- Florida recorded 3,138 traffic deaths in 2024 across 2,931 fatal crashes (NHTSA FARS).
- Deaths were down -7.0% versus 2023 (3,375 deaths).
- Miami-Dade County recorded the most deaths in 2024 (279).
- 2,214 of the deaths were motor-vehicle occupants; restraint use at the time of the crash is broken down below.
Traffic deaths by year
Sum of the FARS FATALS field (persons killed in each crash) over Florida accident records, grouped by FARS data year.
| Year | Deaths |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3,329 |
| 2021 | 3,741 |
| 2022 | 3,548 |
| 2023 | 3,375 |
| 2024 | 3,138 |
Fatal crashes by year
Count of FARS accident records — each record is one fatal motor-vehicle traffic crash — with STATE = 12 (Florida), grouped by FARS data year.
| Year | Fatal Crashes |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 3,097 |
| 2021 | 3,453 |
| 2022 | 3,315 |
| 2023 | 3,163 |
| 2024 | 2,931 |
Deadliest counties (2024)
Florida counties ranked by summed FARS FATALS in the latest data year (top 10); county names as reported by FARS COUNTYNAME.
| County | Deaths |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 279 |
| Broward | 243 |
| Palm beach | 214 |
| Hillsborough | 181 |
| Orange | 158 |
| Duval | 152 |
| Lee | 122 |
| Marion | 113 |
| Polk | 113 |
| Pasco | 111 |
Injury severity (2024)
Persons involved in Florida fatal crashes in the latest data year, grouped by the FARS-reported injury severity (INJ_SEVNAME), as reported — no reclassification.
| FARS injury severity | Persons |
|---|---|
| Fatal Injury | 3,138 |
| No Apparent Injury | 2,381 |
| Suspected Minor Injury | 858 |
| Possible Injury | 668 |
| Suspected Serious Injury | 548 |
| Unknown/Not Reported | 52 |
Total persons involved: 7,645.
Restraint use in occupant deaths (2024)
Deaths (INJ_SEV = 4, fatal injury) among motor-vehicle occupants (PER_TYP 1 driver or 2 passenger) in the latest data year, grouped by the FARS-reported restraint/helmet use category (REST_USENAME), as reported — unknowns are shown, never redistributed.
| Restraint use (as reported) | Occupant deaths |
|---|---|
| None Used/Not Applicable | 1,333 |
| Shoulder and Lap Belt Used | 791 |
| Reported as Unknown | 32 |
| Not Reported | 21 |
| Restraint Used – Type Unknown | 19 |
| Child Restraint System – Forward Facing | fewer than 10 |
| Shoulder Belt Only Used | fewer than 10 |
| Lap Belt Only Used | fewer than 10 |
| Booster Seat | fewer than 10 |
| Child Restraint System – Rear Facing | fewer than 10 |
Total occupant deaths: 2,214.
Ejection in occupant deaths (2024)
Deaths (INJ_SEV = 4, fatal injury) among motor-vehicle occupants (PER_TYP 1 or 2) in the latest data year, grouped by the FARS-reported ejection status (EJECTIONNAME), as reported.
| Ejection status (as reported) | Occupant deaths |
|---|---|
| Not Ejected | 1,343 |
| Not Applicable | 635 |
| Totally Ejected | 188 |
| Partially Ejected | 37 |
| Reported as Unknown if Ejected | fewer than 10 |
| Not Reported | fewer than 10 |
Methodology
Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) — the U.S. Department of Transportation's census of fatal motor-vehicle traffic crashes (https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars). Vintage: FARS data years 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, filtered to Florida (state FIPS 12).
Definitions — exactly what each figure counts:
- Crashes By Year: Count of FARS accident records — each record is one fatal motor-vehicle traffic crash — with STATE = 12 (Florida), grouped by FARS data year.
- Deaths By Year: Sum of the FARS FATALS field (persons killed in each crash) over Florida accident records, grouped by FARS data year.
- Yoy: Deaths in the latest data year minus deaths in the prior data year, absolute and as a percentage of the prior year (one decimal). Omitted when no prior year is in the window.
- Trend: Percentage change in yearly deaths from the earliest to the latest data year in this study's window (one decimal).
- Top Counties: Florida counties ranked by summed FARS FATALS in the latest data year (top 10); county names as reported by FARS COUNTYNAME.
- Injury Severity: Persons involved in Florida fatal crashes in the latest data year, grouped by the FARS-reported injury severity (INJ_SEVNAME), as reported — no reclassification.
- Restraint Use: Deaths (INJ_SEV = 4, fatal injury) among motor-vehicle occupants (PER_TYP 1 driver or 2 passenger) in the latest data year, grouped by the FARS-reported restraint/helmet use category (REST_USENAME), as reported — unknowns are shown, never redistributed.
- Ejection: Deaths (INJ_SEV = 4, fatal injury) among motor-vehicle occupants (PER_TYP 1 or 2) in the latest data year, grouped by the FARS-reported ejection status (EJECTIONNAME), as reported.
Small-cell suppression: any cell count greater than zero and below 10 is shown as “fewer than 10” — small cells imply false precision and can be unstable year to year. Totals remain exact.
Analysis by CHG Personal Injury Lawyers. Every published figure is computed directly from the parsed FARS records by deterministic code; no figure is estimated or generated by a language model.
Update history
Last updated: 2026-07-03. This study is refreshed quarterly at this same URL; the history below records what changed.
- 2026-07-03 — Refreshed with FARS data through 2024: 3,138 deaths in 2024 (-237, -7.0% vs 2023).