For most of the year, driving in Fort Lauderdale is a manageable proposition. Then, for roughly six weeks between late February and early April, the road environment changes into something that bears very little resemblance to the rest of the calendar.
The change is not simply volume, though volume rises. What changes is the mix of who is on the road, what they are doing, and at what hour. That mix is more useful to understand than general defensive-driving advice, because the risk concentrates in specific places and hours rather than spreading evenly.
The Risk Profile Is Unusually Specific Three things overlap during these weeks, and the overlap is what produces the collisions.
Pedestrians where drivers do not expect them A1A, Las Olas and the corridors running toward the beach fill with people crossing mid-block, at night, in dark clothing, often in groups, and often not at crosswalks. Drivers scanning for vehicles are not scanning for this.
Pedestrian incidents during these weeks skew heavily toward the hours after dark, and they are the category with the worst outcomes by a considerable margin.
Unfamiliar drivers making navigation errors A large share of vehicles are operated b...