The 9 States with the Worst Drivers

Article

Plenty of people complain that their city or state (or the neighboring city or state) has terrible drivers. But what do the data say?

Lifestyle, Driving, Road Rage

As the eastern half of the United States continues to dig out from last weekend’s snowstorm, driving is likely a key frustration on the minds of many.

Sure, we know the weather can snarl traffic, but even in snowy conditions things would be so much easier if those bad drivers had stayed home and stayed off the roads! At least, that’s what we tell ourselves.

If complaining about “bad drivers” is something of a national pastime, it’s also a topic that can be analyzed with statistics. That’s precisely what the car insurance website CarInsuranceComparison.com recently did when it looked at data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to compile a ranking of the states with the best and worst drivers.

To compile their list, they looked at speeding, failure to obey, and careless driving citations; drunken driving rates; and traffic fatalities in each state. Those statistics were analyzed on a per capita basis and used to compile a total score, on which the states were ranked. The list includes the District of Columbia, so all categories are out of a total of 51. In each category, the higher the state ranks, the greater a problem that particular issue was in the state.

Which state has the best drivers? Turns out, it’s Minnesota, followed by Ohio and Vermont.

Which states had the worst drivers? Continue reading for our full list:

Wilmington, Delaware

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 24

Drunken Driving Rank: 28

Speeding Rank: 14

Careless Driving Rank: 2

Hawaii

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 30

Drunken Driving Rank: 4

Speeding Rank: 5

Careless Driving Rank: 17

Fargo, ND

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 6

Drunken Driving Rank: 1

Speeding Rank: 11

Careless Driving Rank: 51

Phoenix, Arizon

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 10

Drunken Driving Rank: 47

Speeding Rank: 17

Careless Driving Rank: 3

New Orleans, Louisiana

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 6

Drunken Driving Rank: 16

Speeding Rank: 33

Careless Driving Rank: 7

Austin, TX

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 12

Drunken Driving Rank: 6

Speeding Rank: 15

Careless Driving Rank: 11

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 4

Drunken Driving Rank: 3

Speeding Rank: 10

Careless Driving Rank: 7

New Mexico

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 17

Drunken Driving Rank: 10

Speeding Rank: 12

Careless Driving Rank: 5

Montana

Traffic Fatalities Rank: 1

Drunken Driving Rank: 13

Speeding Rank: 20

Careless Driving Rank: 6

To read CarInsuranceComparison.com’s full report, including rankings for all 50 states and DC, click here.

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