When I started this journey, the most surprising thing to me was how opinionated people are about which cities I should go to. Similarly, I shouldn’t be surprised because, since my youth in these United States, out-of-towners complain about the local drivers everywhere I go. 

I remember being told at 16 by an out-of-stater that Florida drivers are the worst. I could not argue against it as it was the only place I had ever driven.

When I went to Villanova, everyone complained about Pennsylvania drivers, though you would also hear about New Jersey and Maryland drivers being bad. That’s not even mentioning Massachusetts drivers’ nickname, the Massholes.  

Manhattan is a whole nother beast altogether. When we went to the US Open this year, I was a passenger in one of the craziest driving displays I have ever seen. The driver swerved left across three lanes of traffic, cutting multiple people off, and coming within 3 feet of an old lady in a wheelchair while using his horn liberally. Based on his nonchalance, this appeared to be a habitual part of his driving. Something like this:

I also heard frequent complaints about North Carolina and Texas drivers on this trip. I haven’t thought the drivers were that bad, but both states’ highways are in terrible shape. 

North Carolina has 80% great drivers and 20% who have no idea what they are doing and where they are going. The problem in Texas is ‘everything is bigger in Texas.’ The trucks are bigger. The cars are bigger. But the roads aren’t! I feel like I am a foot away from death at all times.

Does this hostile attitude toward local drivers come from different driving norms by state? Or is it grounded in reality that some states are just worse? Or is the USA just a generally bad-driving country?

Let’s look at some state data. There are many rabbit holes you could analyze: rural vs urban vs highway percentages and fatality rates, police enforcement effects, or even adjusting for age demographics. But I am not sure I have the time or data for that.

The graph below compares fatalities per 100 million miles from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety against the US News and World Report State Rankings for Road Quality. This allows you to adjust for road quality.

 I drew lines to show the top left quartile. This Quartile contains states with above-average road quality and higher-than-average road fatalities.  Or the states with the most dangerous drivers.

South Carolina appears to have the worst drivers as it has the most fatalities per mile driven and has pretty good roads. Tennessee, Oklahoma, Florida, Montana, Kentucky, and Oregon are also contenders for the prize. I cannot think of any particular characteristic these states share that might explain the dangerous driving. Some are flat. Some are mountainous. Some are rural and others have more urban centers. Population densities are quite different between these states as well. So it probably is just the drivers.

Surprisingly, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland all have crappy roads, which I can attest to, but low numbers of fatalities. I am sure I will hear all about it from my Northeastern friends. They shouldn’t be too cocky, though, because the US does rank as one of the most dangerous countries to drive in generally.

I am not surprised Florida is high on the list. I have never thought drivers in other states were that bad because I grew up with aggressive Florida drivers. I just got used to it. My biggest complaint about North Carolina and Texas drivers is that some of them are incredibly cautious in an unpredictable way. I can consistently predict what a Florida driver will do (Hint: They’ll cut you off)

I am sure this post will garner some strong opinions…