{"id":1380,"date":"2016-03-30T10:48:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T14:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.greatflorida.com\/blog\/?p=1380"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:11:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:11:56","slug":"deadly-roads-could-cause-a-rate-hike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/2016\/deadly-roads-could-cause-a-rate-hike\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadly Roads Could Increase Rates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last year proved to be a tragic one on Florida roadways with a shocking increase in fatalities.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrivers often forget how engaged you must be to drive. \u00a0Changing traffic patterns, weather conditions and a lack of sleep can turn what seems like a mundane task into a challenging one,\u201d says Dustyn Shroff<\/a>, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>, Florida\u2019s largest independent auto insurance<\/a> agency.<\/p>\n

Preliminary estimates from the National Safety Council<\/a> (NSC) claim, \u201c2015 was the deadliest driving year in since 2008.\u201d They reported an 8 percent increase in traffic deaths from 2014-2015, the largest year-to-year percentage increase in half a century.<\/p>\n

Over the last year, the NSC estimates Florida saw an 18 percent increase in traffic fatalities. Since 2013, Florida has experienced the fourth highest increase in auto accidents across the nation.\"shutterstock_483674171\"<\/p>\n

A stronger economy and lower unemployment rates are influences likely responsible for the disturbing trend. Average gas prices were 28 percent lower in 2015 than the previous year making driving more affordable.<\/p>\n

These troubling statistics have caused many to theorize that more accidents can be attributed to distracted driving. They believe specifically an increase in cell phone use among drivers and walkers, causing inattention to the road. The NSC reports a quarter of all car crashes involve cell phone use.<\/p>\n

Some financial and insurance experts have pointed to an increase in distracted driving to be the cause behind some recent increases in rising car insurance premiums.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can often trace back auto insurance<\/a> hikes to more than one issue,\u201d says Buck with GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>, Florida\u2019s leading independent car insurance<\/a> agency. \u201cMedical expenses are on the rise as well as traffic accidents. Also, while today\u2019s cars are equipped with advanced safety systems they are also more expensive to repair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the traffic accidents occurring, is the alarming increase in the number of cyclists and pedestrian fatalities.<\/p>\n

The Governor\u2019s Highway \u00a0Safety Association<\/a> (GHSA), Spotlight on Highway Safety<\/em> annual report, indicates, last year saw the largest year-to-year increase in pedestrian deaths ever, with a 10 percent increase.<\/p>\n

They believe factors contributing to the rise include; an increase in vehicle travel due in part to lower fuel costs and improved economic conditions as well as the increase use of cell phones among walkers and drivers. \u00a0The findings report that pedestrians now account for 15 percent of car accident deaths compared with 11 percent over a decade ago.<\/p>\n

GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a> has experienced agents across Florida to shop all the major insurance carriers to find the best car insurance<\/a> at the best rate for you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year proved to be a tragic one on Florida roadways with a shocking increase in fatalities. \u201cDrivers often forget how engaged you must be to drive. \u00a0Changing traffic patterns, weather conditions and a lack of sleep can turn what seems like a mundane task into a challenging one,\u201d says Dustyn Shroff, Vice President of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1219,"featured_media":1390,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-auto-insurance"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1380"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13909,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1380\/revisions\/13909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}