# Meet the worst drivers in the US **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686 "2013-08-31T19:18:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/1 "2013-08-31T19:18:56Z")
This is an interesting site with lots of cool graphics, but [here’s one](http://vizual-statistix.tumblr.com/post/59697554351/there-are-many-ways-to-evaluate-whether-someone-is) that shows average number of years for a driver between collisions. > [@](#): > > There are many ways to evaluate whether someone is a good driver. One could review traffic violations, [DUI convictions](http://vizual-statistix.tumblr.com/post/54683207711/i-collected-data-on-a-per-state-basis-for-number), collisions, etc. Of course, someone may be a bad driver and simply get lucky and end up with a clean record. However, by reviewing the records of many people, we can get a sense of how safe drivers may be at the city or state level. This is what Allstate has done – using claims data from a two-year period, it calculated the average time between collisions for drivers in 200 of the largest cities in the US. [visual statistix at tumblr](http://vizual-statistix.tumblr.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/2 "2013-08-31T19:45:04Z")
Those links show other unrelated stuff, but its Oregon. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/3 "2013-08-31T19:52:29Z")
Idaho seems like the best but that’s probably because it takes years before even see another driver on the road. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/4 "2013-09-01T04:26:06Z")
Not getting in an accident or getting a ticket is not a definition of a good driver IMO. I know dozens of people who are absolute disasters for anyone unlucky enough to be on the road at the same time as them. And they never have a ticket or wreck. But do they ever cause a bunch of wrecks & sometimes even cause others to get a ticket. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/5 "2013-09-01T13:58:04Z")
If you want to meet the worst drivers this side of China, come down to Houston. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/6 "2013-09-02T08:45:40Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > I know dozens of people who are absolute disasters for anyone unlucky enough to be on the road at the same time as them. And they never have a ticket or wreck. But do they ever cause a bunch of wrecks & sometimes even cause others to get a ticket. Wouldn’t this show up in the statistics? They’re counting the total number of wrecks and tickets, not the total caused by the driver whom it happens to. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/7 "2013-09-02T15:46:17Z")
Interesting. My wife swears Maryland drivers are terrible, and this appears to back that up scientifically. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/8 "2013-09-02T16:46:21Z")
Not surprised that PA is up there. When I was in Philly, I noticed that people in general were rude of course (after all, it’s on the East Coast), but the drivers seemed especially aggressive. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/9 "2013-09-02T17:41:54Z")
I’d bet this chart would correspond nicely with simply the number of urban miles driven per year. All the “worst” drivers are from places where very long commutes all within an urban area are common. Another interesting consideration is that those green states in the northern Great Plains and Rocky region (ID and SD, but I assume MT, WY, and ND would be green too) have some of the highest per capita highway fatalities. People there don’t do a lot of the kinds of driving that gets them into fender-benders, but that doesn’t mean they’re all good drivers! ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/10 "2013-09-02T17:54:43Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Another interesting consideration is that those green states in the northern Great Plains and Rocky region (ID and SD, but I assume MT, WY, and ND would be green too) have some of the highest per capita highway fatalities. People there don’t do a lot of the kinds of driving that gets them into fender-benders, but that doesn’t mean they’re all good drivers! That’s interesting because I’ve always thought that long highway commutes had to be the worst for fatalities. I’ve always tried to avoid them but when I was consulting, I couldn’t always do that and would periodically get caught in traffic resulting from really hideous accidents - people commuting into work at no o’clock in the morning, in the dark with bad road conditions like rain, snow or fog and at unsafe speeds. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/11 "2013-09-02T18:05:47Z")
How the hell is Massachusetts not bright, neon purple? CT, I believe, but not MA??? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/12 "2013-09-02T21:19:21Z")
> [@](#): > > Join Date: Feb 2000 > Location: El Cerrito, CA > Posts: 2,131 > Quote: > Originally Posted by GusNSpot View Post > I know dozens of people who are absolute disasters for anyone unlucky enough to be on the road at the same time as them. And they never have a ticket or wreck. But do they ever cause a bunch of wrecks & sometimes even cause others to get a ticket. > Wouldn’t this show up in the statistics? They’re counting the total number of wrecks and tickets, not the total caused by the driver whom it happens to. If it was about the worst state for wrecks / per whatever. that in no way is saying that the worst drivers are these. IMO If that was so, then NASCAR drivers would be one of the worst group of drivers. Does one fender bender = the same as one head on with 5-6 fatalities? My point is / that # of wrecks does not automatically make a driver bad. Many people have been in many wrecks where it was not even 1% their fault. So that also slants the results IMO. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/13 "2013-09-03T01:31:49Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Many people have been in many wrecks where it was not even 1% their fault. So that also slants the results IMO. YMMV “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. 15 times, it’s a shitty driver” - Auric Goldfinger ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/14 "2013-09-03T02:45:04Z")
I’m amazed that California as a whole didn’t rank higher. I’d also be interested in stats at the city level. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/15 "2013-09-03T03:05:54Z")
> [@Seanette](#): > > I’m amazed that California as a whole didn’t rank higher. I’d also be interested in stats at the city level. You can try emailing the guy who writes the blog. He might actually have access to that sort of data. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/16 "2013-09-03T15:10:55Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > How the hell is Massachusetts not bright, neon purple? A guess based on recently spending a week in Springfield: Boston is offset by the rest of the state. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/17 "2013-09-03T16:41:44Z")
> [@SirGalahad](#): > > If you want to meet the worst drivers this side of China, come down to Houston. I can agree with this, in a “our politicians are the WORST” way :). I once saw a guy holding up a fire truck behind him, sirens going the driver leaning on the horn, so the guy just starts slowing and then stopped and put his hand out the window. I swear someone in the Houston DMV had to be selling licenses. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-the-worst-drivers-in-the-us/667686/18 "2013-09-03T19:49:07Z")
Looks to me like, buy and large, the stats merely point out the states with the highest population densities. More vehicles in less space = more accidents. I’m not at all surprised.