The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that someone dies from a drunk driving incident every 44 minutes in the United States.
Depending on a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC), alcohol can impair judgment, attention, and vision at lower levels, and coordination, reaction time, self-control, and sensory processing at higher levels, among other effects.
At Rosen Injury Law Firm, we believe all fatal vehicle crashes are preventable, especially those that involve alcohol. Although culture has shifted to lower consumption in recent years, we believe all efforts towards awareness and prevention should continue until fatal crashes are no longer accepted as inevitable.
In this study, we partnered with 1Point21 Interactive to analyze the most recent four years of available alcohol-related fatal crash data in Florida (2021–2024) provided by the NHTSA. We focused on the 30 most populous cities in the state, ranking them by a composite score based on the number of alcohol-related fatal crashes, the rate per 100,000 residents, and the share of all fatal crashes involving alcohol. Furthermore, we compare how Florida’s alcohol-related fatal crash rate compares to the rest of the country and how its rate has changed over the study period.
Read on to learn more.
Key Takeaways:
- Fort Lauderdale ranked first as the city with the highest alcohol-related fatal crash index, with 18 incidents over the study period at a rate of 2.39 crashes per year for every 100,000 residents, and approximately 15% of all fatal crashes occurring in the city involving alcohol.
- Over the four-year study period, the typical state recorded an annual alcohol-related fatal crash rate of 2.73 fatal crashes per 100,000 residents. Florida’s average rate was lower, at 2.39, ranking 31st among the states.
- Florida shows improvement with the alcohol-related fatal crash rate declining year-over-year since 2021. This results in an approximate 53% reduction over the four-year period.
Fatal crashes are rare events, and alcohol-related crashes account for only a portion of them. This analysis is limited to Florida’s 30 most populous cities and is intended to show where alcohol-related crash risk is more concentrated. Even cities that appear to fare better in the data may still be experiencing preventable loss of life, which means there is always room to improve safety. Higher scores simply indicate a greater burden based on the measures used here, which may help to highlight where safety efforts may still be needed.
Florida Cities Ranked by Alcohol-Related Fatal Crash Index
Florida experienced 2,225 alcohol-related fatal crashes over the four-year period between 2021 and 2024, taking the lives of 3,344 individuals.
Urban vs. Rural Crashes
About 74% of these alcohol-related fatal crashes occurred in urban areas, while 24% occurred in rural areas. The remaining cases were either unreported, unknown, or occurred on a trafficway outside the state inventory. While urban areas experience the highest number of these incidents, when adjusting for population size, research shows that alcohol-related fatal crashes generally occur at a higher rate in rural areas.
Rural areas tend to struggle with fewer transportation options, slower emergency responses, and longer commutes home along road stretches that often lack optimal lighting. Meanwhile, urban areas experience more traffic with a more active nightlife scene with plenty of bars, clubs, and restaurants offering alcoholic beverages.
Calculating the Index
Given the available data, we focused our analysis on the 30 most populous cities in Florida to identify which cities among larger populations bear a higher alcohol-related fatal crash index.
The table below ranks these cities by a composite score that weighs the three following factors:
- total alcohol-related fatal crashes
- the annual rate per 100,000 residents
- the share of alcohol-related fatal crashes among all fatal crashes in the city
Fort Lauderdale Ranks #1
Fort Lauderdale ranked first as the city with the highest alcohol-related fatal crash index, with 18 incidents over the study period at a rate of 2.39 crashes per year for every 100,000 residents. Among all fatal crashes occurring in the city, 15.25% involved alcohol. The city showed a higher overall score, surpassing other cities associated with nightlife like Miami, Orlando, Tampa, and West Palm Beach.
By total incidents, Jacksonville had the highest number with 58 alcohol-related fatal crashes over the study period, pushing it to second place by composite score. The area recorded a rate of 1.42 incidents each year per 100,000 residents, and 12.61% of all fatal crashes in the city involved alcohol.
Sunrise came in third by composite score with seven total alcohol-related fatal crashes over the study period at a rate of 1.77 incidents per year for every 100,000 residents, with 23.33% of all fatal crashes involving alcohol — one of three cities with the highest alcohol-involved shares.
Fort Myers (ranked fourth overall) and Boca Raton (ranked fifth overall) showed some of the highest rates, with nearly two alcohol-related fatal crashes each year per 100,000 residents. Unlike destinations known for concentrated nightlife districts, both are primarily suburban cities with moderate traffic.
Zoom in and out to explore the state, and hover over city points for details. Darker colors indicate higher composite scores.
Florida Shows Improvement
The graph below looks at all alcohol-related fatal crash rates in both urban and rural areas across all 50 states. Among all states, the average was a rate of 2.73 annual alcohol-related fatal crashes per 100,000 residents.
Florida’s average rate was lower, at 2.39, ranking 31st among the states. Instead, Montana, South Carolina, Wyoming, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Delaware all showed rates above 4.0.
When looking at Florida’s rate through the study period, it shows a year-over-year decline, dropping by 53% over the four years. In 2021, the rate was 3.46, and in 2024, it was 1.62. Several factors may be responsible for this change. The notable shift in drinking culture may play a role, as well as states’ broader traffic-safety efforts.
Florida’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan 2021-2025 includes impaired driving as a focus area. Some of the plan’s details include enforcement, targeted education, and strategies designed to mitigate the risk of serious injury when impaired driving does occur, such as wrong-way driving alert systems on Interstate entrance and exit ramps.
Furthermore, the state’s DUI programs educate and evaluate offenders while providing referrals to substance abuse facilities to reduce DUI recidivism rates. More recently, Florida enacted Trenton’s Law in 2025, which made a first refusal of a DUI test a criminal offense. Florida’s research had previously found that approximately one-third of all drivers suspected of impairment refused to consent to a test.
Driving with Safety in Mind
Ultimately, preventing impaired driving begins with individual choices. With awareness of the effects alcohol has on our systems, driving is best left to a sober friend or rideshare driver. By planning ahead, one can protect oneself and others.
If someone is about to drive impaired, even a hesitant friend can make a difference by speaking up, taking the keys if needed, and helping that person find a safer way home. Small decisions before a night out can prevent serious crashes, injuries, and deaths.
Methodology
We analyzed four years of national fatal crash data provided by NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to better understand the current state of alcohol-involved fatal crashes in the state of Florida. The state-by-state comparison and timeline of Florida’s incident rate include crashes in both rural and urban areas.
The city ranking focused on the 30 most populous cities, ranging in populations of 89,339 and 1,017,689, as of the 2025 Census data. The composite score accounts for the following factors in the following order of weight: (1) annual alcohol-related fatal crash rate per 100,000 residents, (2) four-year total of alcohol-related fatal crashes, and (3) the proportion of alcohol-related fatal crashes among all crashes.
Fair Use Statement
If you’d like to help us raise awareness against drinking and driving, you are welcome to share these findings. We just ask that any republication include a link back to this page so readers can reference the full methodology and content.