The running joke throughout New England is that the worst drivers are in Boston, period. We will argue against anyone claiming Los Angeles, New York or Washington, D.C., have the worst drivers. Indeed, just a quick look online shows thousands of videos of bad Boston driving. However, according to the research, that just is not true.
The research
Car Insurance Comparison utilized databases maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, and then broke that data down into five categories: car accident death rate, failure to obey traffic laws, careless driving, drunk driving and speeding. Then, the researchers ranked each to make cumulative totals to rank each state in the United States.
No states from the Northeast
It may come as a shock, but Massachusetts actually has some of the safest drivers in the United States, and New England, generally, also has some of the safest drivers. Indeed, there were no states from the Northeast that even broke the top 10 worst drivers. So, where did Massachusetts rank? It tied for spot 47 with the only issue noted as high percentages of speeding. Though, they were lower than most other states.
Where do the worst drivers live?
Two neighboring states took the top spot for worst drivers in the United States: New Mexico and Texas. New Mexico was number one in two categories. It had the highest rates of careless driving in the United States, and it is the most dangerous state for pedestrians. Though, Texas has its own problems as well with nearly a third of all fatal car accidents involving speed and almost 80% involving alcohol.
What can we learn?
Researchers and experts all agree that there are two common bad driving habits that these terrible drivers exhibit: distracted driving and speeding. This one-two combo can be catastrophic to those involved in a North Andover, Massachusetts, car accident with bad and negligent drivers. This is why they encourage us all to slow down and pay attention to the road.
