Florida has the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities caused by drivers aged 65 and older in the United States, according to a new analysis of federal traffic data.
The study, conducted by Kuzyk Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, reviewed figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) spanning 2020 through 2024.
Researchers calculated the average annual number of pedestrian deaths involving older motorists and weighed them against the population of licensed drivers aged 65 and older in each state.
The findings show that Florida averages 97 pedestrian deaths per year involving older motorists. When adjusted for the state’s 4,091,674 older licensed drivers—the second-largest population of its kind in the nation—Florida’s rate stands at 2.37 fatalities per 100,000 older drivers. This figure places Florida just ahead of Nevada at 2.35 and California at 2.31, which rounded out the top three positions.
By comparison, California sees a higher raw total of 114.8 average annual pedestrian fatalities linked to older motorists, but its larger base of nearly 5 million older drivers results in a lower per-capita rate than Florida. On the other end of the spectrum, Wyoming recorded the lowest rate in the nation at 0.19 deaths per 100,000 older drivers, making Florida’s rate roughly 12 times higher.
Over the five-year period analyzed, older motorists in Florida were involved in a total of 485 pedestrian fatalities. The annual numbers began at 91 deaths in both 2020 and 2021 before increasing 18.7% to a peak of 108 in 2022. The totals dropped slightly to 101 in 2023 and 94 in 2024, though the final year of the study remained higher than the 2020 baseline.
“Florida’s #1 ranking for older-driver pedestrian deaths is a serious public safety concern that demands immediate attention from state and local leaders,” said Mark Anderson, an attorney at Kuzyk Personal Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, in a statement accompanying the release. “With nearly 100 pedestrians killed by drivers aged 65 and older every year, the scale of this problem is unlike anything we see in other states. Stronger licensing oversight, better road design in high-pedestrian areas, and targeted public awareness campaigns could help reverse these trends.”
The wider Southeast region emerged as an area of higher frequency in the index. Both Georgia and Mississippi tied for the ninth spot nationally, each recording a rate of 1.82 pedestrian deaths per 100,000 older drivers.
The study notes that variations in regional rates can be influenced by multiple external factors beyond driver age alone, including local pedestrian activity levels, urban road design, traffic enforcement, state licensing requirements, and specific municipal reporting practices.
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