Montana Stays on Track as State with Worst Drivers in U.S.

Wednesday, December 02, 2015
(photo: Douglas C. Piza, AP)

For the second year in a row, the worst drivers in the United States can be found in Montana.

 

Car Insurance Comparison annually ranks each state for its driving habits, and this year it put Montana at the top of the list again. The state was the worst in the country for its traffic fatality rate and was among the worst in several other categories, including speeding, careless driving and failure to obey traffic laws.

 

“Montana has the potentially deadly combination of high speed limits and severe winter weather that could really be driving up fatality rates,” Tyler Spraul, director of the study, told USA Today.

Second place went to South Carolina and New Mexico in a tie, followed by Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Hawaii, North Dakota, Delaware, and Mississippi.

 

New Mexico was something of a surprise because it wasn’t in the top 10 of last year’s rankings. It ranked fifth for careless driving and 10th for drunken driving, “with troubling standings for speeding and failure to obey traffic laws,” Bart Jansen wrote at USA Today. “The rate of drunk driving should be a cause for concern among New Mexico residents, as their biggest change came in that category,” Spraul said.

 

Among the other categories studied by Spraul, Louisiana led in failure to obey traffic signals, seat-belt laws and having a driver’s license; North Dakota was tops in drunken driving; New Hampshire led in speeding; and Florida led the nation in careless driving.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

To Learn More:

Car-Insurance Study Settles It: Montana has Worst Drivers (by Bart Jansen, USA Today)

Worst Drivers by State (Car Insurance Comparison)

Poor People More Likely to Die in Auto Accidents (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Drivers in Republican-Leaning States more likely to Die in Accidents than those in Democratic States (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Comments

Tamera 9 years ago
Yes I totally agree Montana does have the worse drivers. The reason is because Law enforcement don't enforce state traffic laws. I know in Hamilton Montana the police officers don't enforce state traffic laws because they don't understand what the laws mean.
Michael Brown 9 years ago
This article may be misleading. People who drive mostly in cities are less likely to be in a fatal crash only because the speeds are low. Montana is the 4th largest state in area, but the population is so small we have only one area code. We have to drive on interstates and highways to go anywhere. So when we have wrecks it is much more likely to be at high speed than it would be for someone living in LA or Manahattan.

Leave a comment