Driving on the highway can be dangerous to your health: Slow down and yield the right of way

Have you been driving on the highway recently and raced to keep from getting rear-ended by other drivers racing at 80 miles per hour plus? They pass you in the right lane traveling at 90 MPH and get right on your bumper even when there are twenty cars ahead of you.

2007 statistics from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles show the top two causes of Florida traffic accidents are reckless driving and failure to yield the right of way. Speeding has caused many accidents on the highways involving rear end and side collisions. Click here to read the full story about the picture above.

In Florida, the highest percentage of accidents involving injuries were rear end collisions with 73,333 injuries and 26.4 % of the total 212,149 injuries. In 2007 alone, an average of 702 motor vehicle and car crashes occured daily with a total 256,206 traffic accidents claiming 3,221 lives. Nationally traffic accidents are the number one cause of major injuries and the number one killer of people 34 years and under.

Because of the amount of increased traffic congestion on the highways, Florida drivers need to slow down and yield the right of way. Passing on the left lane of the highway and following the rules of safe driving speeds and distances would lower the accident rate considerably. That would also lower the injury rate and medical care expenses involved when accidents occur. Keeping our state highways safe requires the cooperation of every driver and Florida resident.

This driver safety message brought to you by Bay Marketing Fort Myers, an independent award winning health insurance agency serving Lee, Collier, and Charlotte County residents. Contact us at 239-275-8500 or toll free 800-330-7124 for your Florida Health Plan questions and Fort Myers health insurance quotes.