Miami Accident Lawyer Blog
According to a recent story published by The Miami Herald, Texas A&M University’s Transportation Institute has issued its annual Urban Mobility Report for 2012, ranking the region encompassing Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties, eleventh of the fifteen worst urban areas in the nation for traffic congestion.
The study reviewed traffic conditions and patterns in cities and suburbs across America in an attempt to quantify the amount of traffic congestion in various regions and give researchers a way to measure the degree of unreliability associated with calculating the amount of time required to make a given trip. According to the report, the only areas in the U.S. with worse traffic congestion than the South Florida region were Washington, DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco-Oakland, New York-Newark, Boston, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Seattle.
For the first time, the report also includes a Planning Time Index (“PTI”), which is a measure of the amount of extra time motorists require to arrive on time at a desired destination. The study states, “If the PTI for a particular trip is 3.00, a traveler would allow 60 minutes for a trip that typically takes 20 minutes when few cars are on the road.” The report assigned the South Florida area PTI of 3.60, corresponding to its ranking of 11th worst for traffic congestion.
Although many people tend to view traffic congestion as nothing more than an inconvenience, the truth is that it can lead to reckless, and, in some cases, aggressive driving. Indeed, most people have, at some point in their life, experienced or been the victim of another person’s “road rage.”
The report also concluded that, in 2011, the average motorist spent an extra 38 hours on the road and, in areas with a population over three million, that number went up to 52 hours. Further, commuters had to plan for approximately three times as much travel time as they would in normal conditions to account for the effects of unexpected crashes, bad weather, special events and other irregular congestion causes.
Not only does Florida have some of the worst traffic in the nation, as has been discussed by this blog before, it is on one of the most dangerous states for pedestrians and could be doing more to improve its traffic safety laws.
With ever-increasing traffic congestion, coupled with the tendency of residents to walk where they need to go, less than ideal traffic safety laws, and increased time on the road, Floridians are at greater risk than ever for being injured or killed in a traffic accident. If you, your family or friends have been involved an accident in which you sustained injuries, you may need legal representation to protect your right to compensation.
The Miami personal injury attorneys of Gerson & Schwartz, P.A. have extensive experience representing individuals who have been injured by in auto,car, or motor vehicle accidents. If you or someone you know has been injured in car crash, motorcycle accident, or another type of motor vehcile accident, contact the Miami, Florida car accident attorneys at Gerson & Schwartz,P.A. today.