Tampa Ranks #6 In The Nation With 6.72 Fatal Intersection Crashes Per 100,000 Residents Annually

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Tampa, Florida, recorded the sixth-highest intersection fatal crash rate among the 50 largest U.S. cities at 6.72 per 100,000 residents annually.
• Tampa averaged 27.8 fatal intersection crashes per year from 2019 to 2023, totaling 139 over the five years.
• Tampa is the smallest city by population (413,657) to rank in the top 10 nationally. Florida places two cities back-to-back in the top 6: Miami (7.10, ranked 5th) and Tampa (6.72, ranked 6th), with Jacksonville also ranking 13th (4.30).

Every day, hundreds of thousands of Tampa residents navigate traffic intersections where turning vehicles, changing signals, and crossing paths create a high-risk environment. Despite safety upgrades, intersections in the Tampa Bay area continue to account for a disproportionate share of traffic fatalities, and new data reveal Tampa is the sixth most dangerous large city in America for intersection crashes.

According to an analysis by Grigor Law Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, the study examined fatal intersection crashes in the 50 largest U.S. cities from 2019 to 2023 using NHTSA CDAN data, calculated each city’s annual average and per capita fatal crash rate per 100,000 residents, then ranked cities from the highest fatal crash rate (most dangerous) to the lowest (safest).

Tampa Ranks #6 Among 50 Largest U.S. Cities With 6.72 Fatal Intersection Crashes Per 100,000 Residents Annually

The following table presents the 10 cities with the highest per capita intersection fatal crash rates from 2019 to 2023, with Tampa highlighted.

Tampa’s rate of 6.72 fatal intersection crashes per 100,000 residents places it sixth nationally. With a population of just 413,657, Tampa is the smallest city by population to rank in the top 10. Tampa’s rate is 1.8 times the 50-city average of 3.83 and 4.6 times higher than the safest city, New York City (1.45 per 100,000).

Looking at the study, Chrissy Grigoropoulos, Founding Partner at Grigor Law Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, commented:

“Tampa’s position as the sixth most dangerous city for intersection fatalities is a serious concern for residents. A rate of 6.72 fatal intersection crashes per 100,000 residents, 4.6 times that of New York City, tells us that intersection design, signal timing, and traffic engineering decisions carry life-or-death consequences for Tampa residents every single day.”

Florida’s Intersection Crisis: Tampa and Miami Rank Back-to-Back in the Top 6 Nationally

Florida is the only state with two cities in the top 6 nationally for intersection fatality rates. All three Florida cities in the study rank in the top 13, combining for 521 fatal intersection crashes over the five-year period.

Tampa and Miami rank back-to-back at 6th and 5th nationally with rates of 6.72 and 7.10, respectively. Jacksonville, despite recording the highest raw total in Florida (217 crashes over five years), has a lower per capita rate of 4.30 due to its significantly larger population of over one million. Combined, Florida’s three cities averaged 6.04 fatal intersection crashes per 100,000, well above the 50-city average of 3.83.

Tampa Leads All Non-Florida Southeast Peer Cities in Intersection Fatality Rate

When compared against other major Southeast and Sun Belt peer cities outside Florida, Tampa’s intersection fatality crisis stands in sharp relief.

Tampa’s rate of 6.72 is 1.8 times higher than Atlanta (3.71), 2.4 times higher than Virginia Beach (2.76), and 2.7 times higher than Charlotte (2.46). Even Raleigh, a city of comparable population, records a rate of just 1.82, less than one-third of Tampa’s. The gap underscores that Tampa faces an intersection safety challenge unmatched by any comparable Southeast metropolitan area.

139 Fatal Intersection Crashes in 5 Years: One Every 13 Days in Tampa

Between 2019 and 2023, Tampa recorded 139 fatal crashes at intersections, translating to an annual average of 27.8. That pace means Tampa experienced approximately 2.3 fatal intersection crashes every month, or roughly one every 13 days. For context, Tampa’s annual total of 27.8 exceeds the totals of many cities with significantly larger populations:

Tampa, with just 413,657 residents, the smallest city by population in the entire top 10, records more annual fatal intersection crashes than Charlotte (23.0), Austin (22.8), Fort Worth (22.2), and San Diego (22.2), all of which have populations ranging from 935,000 to nearly 1.4 million. This disproportionate toll illustrates the severity of Tampa’s intersection safety crisis relative to its population size.

Methodology

Data for this analysis were extracted from the NHTSA CDAN Query Tool. The study focused on fatal motor vehicle crashes at intersections in the top 50 U.S. cities by population, covering the five years from 2019 to 2023. For each city, the total number of fatal intersection crashes over the five years was divided by five to produce an annual average. The annual average was then divided by the city’s population and multiplied by 100,000 to calculate a per capita fatal crash rate. Cities were ranked from the highest fatal crash rate (most dangerous) to the lowest (safest).

Data Sources

●      NHTSA CDAN Query Tool: https://cdan.dot.gov/query

●  Research Dataset: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1w9vUzqhjTT81TDLNiuCrs5OyCRT8Mv9LWEgxgFrbE0M/edit?gid=0#gid=0

●      Research by: https://grigorlaw.com/

About Grigor Law Injury & Car Accident LawyersThe study was conducted by Grigor Law Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, a premier New York “all injury” law firm representing clients in personal injury, car accidents, workers’ compensation, and no-fault claims.

Please make a small donation to the Tampa Free Press to help sustain independent journalism. Your contribution enables us to continue delivering high-quality, local, and national news coverage.

Sign up: Subscribe to our free newsletter for a curated selection of top stories delivered straight to your inbox