Worst Drivers in America.
The Daily Beast published a ranked list of the states with the worst drivers, based upon the number of fatal accidents, taking into account the number of drivers’ licenses issued in the state and the distance of the typical commute.
Based on my experience, I would have chosen Ohio and New York to have the worst drivers, but I would have been wrong.
By the way, New York was number 34 and New Jersey was number 37 on the list. (I figure New York drivers don’t get to drive fast enough often enough to cause that many fatal accidents. They are just a general menace on the roads.)
The state with the worst drivers surprised me.
Thanks to reader Dick for the link.
This is another case of liars and statistics. They don’t even tell you the formula they used.
The only thing I can say for sure about the algorithm is that it wasn’t chosen by guys from North Dakota.
Comment by Carl Brannen — September 30, 2010 @ 1:17 am
What surprised me was that Texas was number 10. I thought for sure we would be close to the top.
Gerald
Comment by Gerald — September 30, 2010 @ 2:12 am
I swear the best drivers are in HUGE metro areas.
Comment by sheri — September 30, 2010 @ 8:26 am
I’m not surprised that Delaware was in the top ten. Whenever my wife and I drive through it on our way south, we hold our breath, from the Memorial Bridge all the way into Maryland. Thank goodness it’s so tiny.
Another un-surprise: three of the top six have brutal winter weather and long long stretches of nowhere. Perfect recipe for dozing off and/or losing it in bad driving conditions.
Comment by nightfly — September 30, 2010 @ 2:18 pm
Brutal winter weather means ice on the roads. Long long stretches of nowhere mean lots of driving to get somewhere. Maybe the researchers didn’t take this into account when they adjusted for the “commute”.
What they really need to adjust for is the total number of highway miles driven at full speed. People are far more likely to get killed at 70mph than 35 mph, so you might as well ignore the miles driven on city streets, or the miles driven on freeways during traffic jams.
Comment by Carl Brannen — September 30, 2010 @ 7:24 pm
Indiana was #38? I demand a recount.
Comment by Jerry in Indiana — October 2, 2010 @ 3:27 pm
I just can’t believe that teenagers are the most dangerous drivers in FL. I thought for sure it would be people with blue hair.
Comment by Bou — October 2, 2010 @ 11:25 pm