All of us think we deal with the worst drivers, but insurance statistics shed light on the actual worst drivers by city.
You might be surprised to find out that, in all likelihood, your city doesn’t top the list of the statistically worst drivers. Despite anecdotes aplenty, questionable driving behavior is as common as driving itself, meaning the cities that manage to be the worst in the country truly have to go above and beyond to be rated higher than every other. Armed with more than 6 million insurance quotes worth of data from Quote Wizard, we’ve compiled a list of the best and worst drivers by city. The 70 largest cities around the U.S. were given a ranking. Let’s see if there are any surprises.
5th Worst: Fresno, California
Things aren’t so rosy in some parts of the West. Fresno cracks the top 10 for DUIs and is 11th in terms of driving citations. According to previous data, Fresno is consistently in the top statistical lists for worst drivers by city, though at the least it has dropped from the DUI rankings podium. Instead of third place Fresno is now seventh in the country for rate of DUIs. Another California city will appear further up in the top 10, making it a contender for worst drivers by state.
4th Worst: Indianapolis, Indiana
The historical motorsports capital of the Midwest has some driving problems to work out. Home to some of the worst drivers by city, Indianapolis ranks in the top 17 across all four measured statistics: accidents, DUIs, speeding, and citations. Worse still is that Indianapolis is 10th in the country for rate of DUIs. Once the racing capital of the world and still one of the meccas of automotive culture, Indy’s public drivers don’t appear to share the precision that the pros on track do.
3rd Worst: Riverside, California
Riverside cracks the top five for accident ranking and top four worst in terms of DUIs. Riverside’s speeding ranking is “only” 33rd, lending some credence to a minor trend in the data that speeding offenses don’t seem to correlate with accidents or DUI numbers, perhaps a result of different methods of enforcement.
2nd Worst: Dayton, Ohio
Dayton makes the podium for worst drivers by city overall and also in terms of speeding and driving citations. It’s 18th in the country for DUIs and 33rd for accident rates. . All that said, that second place for speeding ranking might be skewed somewhat by Ohio State Highway Patrol cracking down on speed enforcement .
Worst: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia Beach is fifth worst in the nation for citations, 22nd for speeding, eighth for DUIs, and 15th for accidents, so Virginia Beach doesn’t seem to have any problems with underreporting. Despite Virginia Beach being ranked as the home of the worst drivers by city in America, monthly insurance rates in Virginia Beach still hover in the double digits, according to Quote Wizard, while in Detroit they are solidly two or three times higher, firmly in the triple digits per month.
5th Best: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The fifth-best city in the nation regarding driving incidents is Baton Rouge. Only the cities that have high ranking numbers across the board make it into the top five, and Baton Rouge ranks 52nd in terms of accident frequency, 65th for number of DUIs, 48th for speeding, and 66th for number of driving citations, all averaged over number of drivers. What’s most telling about Baton Rouge is that just last year it was ranked worst for accidents and third-worst overall.
4th Best: Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford consistently has some of the best drivers by city in the country. Ranked 70th in terms of DUIs and 68th for citations, this New England town has been in the top 24 cities in the country for three years running now. Something that likely contributed to its fall from second best in the country last year to fourth this year is being 42nd in speeding, a surprisingly high ranking for a city with otherwise squeaky clean numbers.
3rd Best: Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is ranked up in the 60s for every category, with a high of 69th for citations and a low of 62nd for speeding. It’s actually second-best overall for citations and near enough to the top in every other category to be considered home to some of the best drivers by city in the country.
2nd Best: Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is home to the second-best drivers by city, not just overall but also specifically in terms of accidents and DUIs. Little Rock drivers are the best overall in terms of citations, getting fewer per driver than any other city in America. Like several other cities in the U.S. top and bottom five rankings, Little Rock’s worst statistic is speeding, where it sits at 53rd.
Best: Detroit, Michigan
Statistically, Detroit has the best drivers by city in America. Stunned, shocked disbelief is the likely response of Detroiters to that news, but perhaps all that pothole dodging has meant something after all. Detroit has the lowest rate of recorded accidents in the US, along with the second lowest rate of speeding tickets. It’s even 65th out of 70 in terms of driving citations. While there are likely external factors associated with this, like speeding being something of a cultural norm and extreme insurance rates leading to unreported accidents, Detroit still ranks best according to insurance quote data.
Which U.S. City Has The Best Drivers?
Those in Detroit will vehemently deny it, but insurance data puts the Motor City at the apex of American driving safety. In reality there are likely factors that skew the data, but with a sample size of more than 6 million insurance quotes, the D’s ranking still matters.
Which Cities Have The Most Speeding Tickets?
Milwaukee ranks worst for speeding tickets, with Dayton ranking second worst. Boston gets the least tickets, with Detroit coming in at second best. It should be noted, however, that getting a speeding ticket in Detroit happens about as often as getting sunburned at night, regardless of how much you wind up your speedometer.
Which Cities Have The Most Citations?
Providence, Rhode Island, ranks as the worst for citations, with Bakersfield, California, taking second worst. Little Rock is the ranked best for citations, getting fewer per driver than 69 other U.S. cities.
Continue to read more facts, Click Source: Motortrend.com
