Watch the road: these 5 states have the most irresponsible drivers

While the jury is still out on whether autonomous vehicles are truly safer than human drivers, the data on which state has the worst drivers is a bit more cut-and-dry.

“I don’t think they have the data yet to make that kind of assessment,” David Kidd, vice president for vehicle research at the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, told Bloomberg when asked which drivers are more likely to crash: autonomous or human. 

“Most insurers are extremely conservative, and they rely on historical data to assess risk accurately. There just isn’t enough information available yet.”

Trent Victor, Waymo’s director of safety research and best practices, recently gave an interview saying much of the same. “There is not yet sufficient mileage to make statistical conclusions about fatal crashes alone,” he said.

“As we accumulate more mileage, it will become possible to make statistically significant conclusions on other subsets of data, including fatal crashes as its own category.”

It’s clear that eliminating drunken driving would significantly improve road safety. And clearing the roads of people whose driving ability is impaired for other reasons puts us well on our way to a transportation utopia.

But bad driving is represented by more than just impaired or angry drivers. Some fully sober drivers are absolute hazards on the road.

A new study commissioned by Ramos James Law examined several traffic safety factors to rank states by how reckless their drivers are. Here’s how they came up with the list.

Drivers in rural states have worse records.

Photo by © Marco Bottigelli on Getty Images

How to track the states with the most reckless drivers

While most of us have anecdotal evidence suggesting that Virginia has the worst drivers in the country, Ramos James Law took a more scientific approach.

To identify and rank the states with the most irresponsible drivers, the researchers relied on several data points.

Related: Americans pay at the pump in fastest gas price increase in 20 years

MethodologyArrests for DUI offenses in a year: Reflects impaired driving behavior and risk-taking decisions that significantly increase crash likelihood and severity.Number of Licensed Drivers: Used to standardize DUI arrests and ensure fair comparison between states with different driving populations.Fatal motor vehicle crashes (5-year data): Provides a stable multi-year baseline of severe road outcomes and helps reduce year-to-year volatility.Number of fatal hit-and-runs: Captures post-crash accountability by recording instances in which drivers failed to remain at the scene after a fatal incident. Percentage of uninsured drivers: Indicates financial and legal responsibility among drivers and reflects compliance with required insurance coverage.

The data is then standardized at a rate of per 100,000 and weighted with a “Driver Irresponsibility Score” that gives the greatest weight to DUI arrest rate (25%) and fatalities involving speeding (20%) and fatalities involving distracted driving (20%). The number of fatal hit-and-runs (15%) and the percentages of uninsured drivers and of belt use (both 10%) had lower weights.

New Mexico has the worst drivers in the U.S.

After all the data was standardized and crunched, it turns out New Mexico has the worst driving culture in America, with nearly 40% of fatal crashes attributed to motorists not paying enough attention to the road.

It’s not a mistake that a rural state like New Mexico has such a bad driving culture, as other rural states also ranked high on this list.

Related: Tesla FSD makes terrifying mistake in viral video

Over 20% of Colorado residents drive without insurance, “putting themselves at financial risk in the event of a crash.” Meanwhile, Wyoming, the state where former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney was arrested for DUI at least twice, “faces the biggest drunk driving crisis” with state police pulling over drunk drivers at twice the national rate.

Following New Mexico, Hawaii, Missouri, Wyoming, and Colorado round out the top five states with the worst drivers. Washington state, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Rhode Island and Texas round out the rest of the top 10.

Top 5 states with the worst driversNew Mexico has 358 DUI arrests per 100K licensed drivers and a 24.1% uninsured driver rate. There are 1.61 fatal hit-and-runs per 100,000 people, and only 91.5% of drivers use a seatbelt. “New Mexico has the most reckless drivers in America. The state faces the biggest distracted driving problem, as almost 40% of fatal crashes here happen because of motorists not paying enough attention to the road. Speeding kills at a similarly high rate as well, playing a role in 1 out of every 3 fatal accidents. Despite these rates, nearly 25% of residents across the state still drive without insurance.””Hawaii is also among the states with the worst driving culture. Motorists here cause more speeding-related deaths than anywhere else in America, with nearly half of fatal incidents involving exceeding the speed limit. Negligent driving is also quite common across the state, as about 1 in every 10 deadly crashes happens because of drivers holding a phone or talking to someone. Hit-and-run cases are another problem, occurring at a 50% higher rate than the national average.””Missouri is also among the states with the worst driving culture. Motorists here cause more speeding-related deaths than anywhere else in America, with nearly half of fatal incidents involving exceeding the speed limit. Negligent driving is also quite common across the state, as about 1 in every 10 deadly crashes happens because of drivers holding a phone or talking to someone. Hit-and-run cases are another problem, occurring at a 50% higher rate than the national average.””Wyoming ranks fourth, struggling with the worst drunk driving crisis. Police here arrest impaired motorists at rates double what most states see, catching about 650 for every 100K licensed drivers. Speeding also plays a major role in crashes, causing nearly 40% of all fatal accidents across the state. Another area where Wyoming falls short is seatbelt compliance, as only 82% of drivers buckle up, meaning 1 in 5 people skip this basic safety measure before getting behind the wheel.””Colorado rounds out the top five states where road safety remains a serious concern. Speeding causes roughly one-third of deadly crashes here, while patrol police have to chase about 350 drunk drivers in every major town. The state also has a significant uninsured driver issue, too, with nearly 20% of people on the road carrying no coverage. Plus, fatal hit-and-runs happen more frequently in Colorado than in most states, occurring at rates well above what most of the country records.”

Related: Fidelity says a $500 policy could protect your entire net worth

#Watch #road #states #irresponsible #drivers