Worst Drivers By State

We've all experienced that moment of shock, frustration, or fear as a reckless driver zooms past us on the highway, or abruptly changes lanes without warning. It seems no matter where we are, there's always that one driver who adds a level of unnecessary risk to our daily commute. It's safe to say that all states have their fair share of bad drivers. According to the 'Bad Driver Index', there is a geographical disparity in regions recording the worst driving behaviors.

The 'Bad Driver Index' ranks states on the basis of three critical criteria: percentage of insured drivers, number of Driving Under Influence (DUI) arrests per thousand drivers, and the number of fatalities per 100,000 miles driven. The coalescence of these facts provides a compelling snapshot of the dire state of road safety in some U.S. regions and the presiding factors contributing to it.

Key findings from the data include:

• The southern states demonstrated an alarming trend, with Mississippi leading the pack with a score of 100 - the worst, followed closely by Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky. This regional pattern suggests a higher prevalence of unpredictable drivers in the southern part of the United States.
• North Dakota nearly caught up with Mississippi, scoring a staggering 91.3. California, notorious for its busy roads and aggressive driving, secured the third spot with a score of 90.58.
• Interestingly, the states with the least proportion of bad drivers are predominantly located in the Northeast. Pennsylvania, for instance, ranked lowest with a humbling score of 13.04. New Hampshire and New Jersey also exhibited promising figures.
• The data also revealed that some states, despite their larger population, had lower scores on the 'Bad Driving Index', such as New York with a score of 35.51, suggesting that a high population density does not necessarily translate to more bad drivers.