Report: Sarasota is the DUI death capital of Florida (Lakeland: car insurance, condo)

[wondermint2]

https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/2...emplate=ampart

Report: Sarasota is the DUI death capital of Florida
Posted Apr 5, 2019 at 6:49 PM

SARASOTA — A community that was tagged in recent years for a high percentage of residents who self-identified as binge drinkers, Sarasota also is atop another just-released report of the most dangerous cities in Florida for DUI deaths.

The city averaged 12.2 deaths per 100,000 residents per year over a recent three-year period, making it nearly twice as deadly as the second most dangerous city, Lakeland.

[radarboy]

SK is in the county not the city.

[wondermint2]

Here's another sad DUI incident that happened today in North Port (Sarasota County). An SUV with 13 teenagers rolled over and a 17 year old girl died:

19-year-old arrested after SUV carrying 13 people rolls in North Port, FL, killing 17-year-old girl

[craigiri]

Sad - major MV accidents of all types daily and we all seem to accept them as the "price of progress" - yet many places with as much or more population don't have as many.

Many states have 50% of the number of accidents as FL - and also of the number of pedestrian deaths.

Even lowering the stats by a couple percentile would mean a LOT of family and friends still living......

Basic solutions....

1. Require car inspections in Florida - and, at the same time as inspection have the drivers handed a simple pamphlet.
2. Have LE target areas where vehicles don't respect crosswalks...only after paying fines will the the offenders listen.
3. Design and re-design roads with the Public - instead of "developer costs or lack of" in mind.
4. Stiff penalties for anyone in even a fender bender whose phone records show driving and texting. Manslaughter charges if such involves fatalities.

Basically, these are decisions society makes. Either we want more....or fewer...dead people. Things don't just happen. A car with bald tires and no side view mirrors may be that one next to you!

[wondermint2]

On a related note - I just received my car insurance renewal offer for my six month policy. The renewal offer is 17.56% higher than what I paid the previous six months. (I have a perfect driving record). Car insuranse rates in Florida keep rising at a much higher rate than the overall rate of inflation.

[olderandwiser456]

Originally Posted by wondermint2

On a related note - I just received my car insurance renewal offer for my six month policy. The renewal offer is 17.56% higher than what I paid the previous six months. (I have a perfect driving record). Car insuranse rates in Florida keep rising at a much higher rate than the overall rate of inflation.

It's happening everywhere. I just got my 6 month renewal here in SE Michigan, and I had a whopping 20% increase! I was stunned. I also have a perfect driving record. In my case, I think the company was punishing me for dropping the collision and comp on an 11 year old car. They wanted their money back.

Aside from trying to get their money in my case because I dropped the collision 6 months ago, I think car ins companies punish good drivers so they don't have to raise the rates as high on bad drivers. If they actually only raised rates a reasonable amount on good drivers, the rates on bad drivers would be astronomical. Just guessing why they are ripping off good drivers. My increases over the last 3 years have been 7-8% every 6 months with a perfect driving record. 20% is shocking.

Rates are so high in Michigan, that people are buying car insurance, registering their car and then dropping the insurance a few days later and getting a refund. Michigan has some of the highest car ins rates in the country. I don't know where Florida falls in that list.

[craigiri]

Originally Posted by olderandwiser456

Rates are so high in Michigan, that people are buying car insurance, registering their car and then dropping the insurance a few days later and getting a refund. Michigan has some of the highest car ins rates in the country. I don't know where Florida falls in that list.

Interesting - because our rates in general (when compared to car costs, etc.) have fallen or been stable for over a decade.

When we lived in NJ they were going up big time...and if you were in accidents you were pretty much done for. Some people paid $3,000 and up per year once they had an accident or two.

But then we moved to MA where insurance is more highly regulated by the state and "for the people" as opposed to "for the lawyers and insurance corporations". In MA. they have long had rules that even out the costs and also that you cannot sue for stuff that can't be seen (all that invisible pain and suffering). It's not a negotiation like it was in NJ....as to what you receive. You get what the damages are/were. Period.

I think our rates are about $1000 a year for full coverage for a brand new car which doesn't seem bad to me. We were paying that in NJ 20 years ago.....it's a highly populated state with high COL, so that is going to be more than some places, but compared to what I thought I'd have to pay it's a bargain.

My guess is that states treat it differently as to how they spread out the risk among drivers - and how quickly they forgive accidents, points and all that stuff.

"Florida is the eighth-most expensive state for car insurance, according to a new state-by-state comparison of auto insurance premiums by Insure.com"...they say about 1380 per year in FL average.

[olderandwiser456]

Originally Posted by craigiri

I think our rates are about $1000 a year for full coverage for a brand new car which doesn't seem bad to me. We were paying that in NJ 20 years ago.....it's a highly populated state with high COL, so that is going to be more than some places, but compared to what I thought I'd have to pay it's a bargain.

"Florida is the eighth-most expensive state for car insurance, according to a new state-by-state comparison of auto insurance premiums by Insure.com"...they say about 1380 per year in FL average.

$1,000 a year for full coverage on a brand new car doesn't seem too bad. I'm paying $850/year for only liability on an 11 year old Honda sedan. No other coverage and a perfect driving record.

Below is another list of rankings by state for car insurance rates. Michigan comes in at #1 on this list, with average annual premiums of $2,551.

Florida is #10 on this list with average annual premiums of $1,830.

Definitely comes down to risk. Michigan car insurance requires every driver to pay into a "catastrophic claims" fund that pays all medical expenses for any auto injury for life for any resident who has an accident, the only state in the country with lifetime benefits and no limits. Many attempts have been tried at the state legislature to put limits on this, and get more in line with other states as far as PIP coverage. But, the legislation never seems to go anywhere. Too many powerful interests involved. At least they should offer various tiers of PIP coverage, but even that doesn't get out of the legislature.

https://www.businessinsider.com/aver...-ranked-2018-3

Some nice pictures in the above article. Check out Montana (#5) with the bison in the roadway blocking cars.

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[Edvard]

I find it mind boggling that people die at this rate now. The cars are so safe and the doctors are better, yet people die in car accidents daily in a 30mph residential area near me. People just take stupid risks now. They text, they gobble bottles of pills, they do stupid things that throw an emergency in your lap because they are in a hurry. It's only getting worse. With the technology we have in 2019 we shouldn't have most of these deaths and injuries. I think people are getting a lot dumber.

[beach43ofus]

I'd like to see the age distribution of these deaths. I'd also like to see how many are full time residents of the City of Sarasota versus non-residents. That could help us drill down on some root causes.

SRQ's population density is high, median age is high, road lighting at night is poor, more visitors than Lakeland, and many other places in Florida. Smaller setback too. That new hotel/condo skyscraper at one of the busiest intersections downtown SRQ is ~15' from a busy road.

Some jurisdictions report DUI's more accurately than others.

I cant agree that drivers in SRQ are just dumber. There's more to it than that.