Do you feel safe while driving in Florida?

If not, SIGN AND SHARE THIS PETITION.

Our Florida highways are becoming increasingly dangerous and disorderly each year. The constant threat of reckless drivers and highway violence paired with the lack of law enforcement patrol has turned this problem into an urgent public safety crisis. The dangers are real and constant – affecting drivers, their families, and visitors numbering in the tens of millions each year. The organized and safe movement of traffic is essential in modern society, yet Florida fails miserably. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Florida has one of the highest fatality rates in the US. [1]

Most common violations that plague our roadways:

• Excessive speed
• Impeding left lane, improper passing
• Texting or distracted drivers
• Road rage and shootings
• Unlicensed, uninsured drivers
• Driving under the influence
• Racing and reckless driving
• Unsafe commercial vehicles
• Drug and human trafficking
• Crashes, injuries, and deaths due to all the above

This is largely due to the exploding population, increase in tourists, and the Florida Highway Patrol's (FHP) inadequate resources to properly manage their duties. A significantly larger budget and increased staffing are critical if the FHP is to function effectively and guarantee safer highways.

The current number of state troopers is insufficient to properly patrol the more than 122,000 highway miles of the second fastest-growing state in the nation. The FHP is authorized for 1,982 sworn positions but has far fewer actually patrolling the roads due to being the 47th lowest-paid agency in the nation. The FHP carries approximately 200 vacancies, which brings realistic staffing to about 1,800 troopers actively serving over 23 million residents. That leaves motorists waiting for hours, often 3-6 hours or more, for a trooper to respond to a call, if they are even able to show up at all.

To make those numbers even more realistic, Florida welcomes over 137 million visitors each year. When divided up, that is approximately 11.4 million additional people in the state each month, which makes the population closer to 34.4 million people. For size comparison, California has a population of 39.4 million people, and their Highway Patrol has 6,600 sworn officers and over 10,000 total employees.  

By the numbers:

• Florida Highway Patrol = 0.08 officers per 1000 residents
• Florida Police Departments = 2.28 officers per 1000 residents [2]
• Florida Sheriff’s Offices = 1.65 officers per 1000 residents [3]
• National average = 2.30 officers per 1000 residents [4]

What does this mean? The Florida Highway Patrol needs to increase 20-25 times its current size to meet the statewide and national officer-to-population ratios. While that increase may be extensive given the amount of local law enforcement already at work in Florida, it highlights the urgent and critical need for, at minimum, thousands more troopers – at least double or triple the current amounts – to properly handle Florida’s highways.

Year after year, decades later, highway safety has not been a priority for state government. Local city councils and county commissions routinely evaluate and expand their public safety programs each year to account for community growth, yet the State has not done the same with their obligation. Furthermore, each year billions of dollars go to expanding and improving state highways but forgotten is the agency tasked with keeping them safe.

This is not an issue that can be left for local governments to absorb – they are strapped with their own issues and responsibilities. Florida state statutes mandate highways are to fall under the protection and enforcement of the Florida Highway Patrol.

The Florida Highway Patrol is severely unsupported, grossly failing its mission, and desperately needs a drastic overhaul.

• Percentage-based cost of living salary increases sporadically provided by the Legislature, depending on the year, are not the solution.
• More overtime opportunities, away from their families, are not the solution. 
• Eliminating vacant positions, rather than filling them, is not the solution.

A substantially expanded budget authorized by the Legislature would allow the FHP to:

• Increase starting salary to attract new talent
• Maintain a competitive and stepped pay plan to keep valued experience and commitment to longevity
• Increase authorized positions to put more troopers on the road
• Invest in advanced equipment
• Remodel outdated facilities
• Increase support staff
• Offer more extensive training
• Most importantly, keep our roadways safe

…thereby enhancing their capability to keep our highways safe.

This is not a political or partisan issue; it is a public safety one that affects everyone. This funding cannot be subjected to current political trends, it is critically necessary; especially as a “Law and Order” state. Our society and families deserve better – the danger must stop. Safer roads mean less crashes and lives saved. Safer roads also mean lower car insurance rates!

Florida boasts the third largest gross domestic product (GDP) economy and largest tourism industry in the nation. The Florida Highway Patrol can be fully funded, and expanded as described above, by the exorbitant state income received each year [5] – without taxes being raised. 

Sincerely,

-Concerned Florida Citizens

SIGN THIS PETITION TO TELL OUR GOVERNMENT WE WANT SAFER ROADS NOW!

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Florida Senate President Ben Albritton

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez

[1] Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2022 Fatality Facts.

[2] Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2024 Statewide Ratios.
[3] Florida Department of Law Enforcement, 2024 Statewide Ratios.
[4] Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2019 Uniform Crime Report.

[5] Florida Department of Financial Services, Annual Financial Comprehensive Report.