A new county-level analysis released by legal services group Los Defensores shows that Florida recorded 478 pedal cyclist fatalities during peak riding seasons across all counties between 2020 and 2024. Ten of the state’s 67 counties accounted for 275 of those deaths.
The study evaluated National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fatality data alongside U.S. Census Bureau population estimates to measure total deaths and population-adjusted risk.
Miami-Dade County recorded the highest raw volume with 56 cyclist fatalities over the five-year evaluation window, averaging 11.2 deaths per peak season. Broward County ranked second with 40 total deaths, averaging 8.0 per year. Hillsborough County placed third with 34 deaths, averaging 6.8 annual fatalities.
While large urban counties led in total volume, smaller counties recorded higher fatality rates relative to their resident population. Walton County recorded the highest per-capita risk statewide at 12.03 fatalities per million residents, followed by Bay County at 10.72 and Highlands County at 9.46 per million.
When examining raw rates among the top 10 populated centers, Pasco County logged 22 total fatalities, yielding 7.21 deaths per million residents. That rate is nearly three times higher than Palm Beach County’s 2.61 per million, despite both counties recording similar raw totals, with Palm Beach reporting 20 deaths.
Orange County recorded 25 fatalities during the period, Pinellas logged 24, Lee reported 20, Volusia recorded 18, and Duval logged 16. Every county within the top 10 fatality counts recorded a per-capita rate of at least 3.0 deaths per million residents.
Year-over-year comparative data between 2020 and 2024 showed notable shifts in peak-season mortality. Broward County experienced the largest absolute increase, rising from four peak-season deaths in 2020 to 10 in 2024. Volusia County recorded an increase of three deaths over the same period, while Highlands County rose by two. Bay, Indian River, Charlotte, and Flagler counties each recorded one additional peak-season fatality in 2024 compared to 2020.
A group of 10 lower-fatality counties—including Dixie, Hendry, Jefferson, Leon, Monroe, Putnam, Sumter, Suwannee, Union, and Wakulla—each averaged 0.2 peak-season fatalities per year during the five-year window. Due to population variances, per-capita rates among this low-volume group ranged from 0.67 per million in Leon County to 13.24 per million in Jefferson County.
The figures were compiled using fatality data from the federal Crash Data Acquisition Network and county population time-series tables provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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