www.upworthy.com
Study shares the state with the worst drivers in the U.S.—it's not New York or California
Sorry Bay Staters—Massachusetts has the worst drivers in America, according to a recent study from the finance site Lending Tree. Data was collected from all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., from Nov. 5, 2023 to Nov. 4, 2024 and researchers found Massachusetts ranked No.1 for the highest number of reported incidents—including speeding, DUIs and citations—with 61.1 incidents per 1,000 drivers.But wait, there’s more. Of those reported incidents, Massachusetts also had the highest accident rate, with 44.4 accidents per 1,000 drivers, giving it the boasting right of being the only state to rate above 40. Lastly, Massachusetts also had two DUIs per 1,000 drivers, tying with Tennessee for the 11th-highest DUI rate in the U.S. Yikes.via GIPHYUnsurprisingly, these factors have caused Massachusetts to have some of the highest car maintenance and insurance costs in the country, according to WalletHub, which put the state not in dead last place, but at 45 out of 50.As for the why of it all, CBS affiliate WBZ partnered with the Waze app back in September and discovered that traffic in the state increased by more than 5% between 2022 and 2023. The data also showed increases in specific cities— 10% more in Newton, 15% more in Framingham, 12% in Salem, just to name a few. And why is traffic increasing? Namely due to companies mandating a return to the office and employees opting to drive themselves rather than use public transportation. With increased traffic and brutal winters, it’s easy to see why this would be the perfect recipe for less-than-stellar driving conditions.However, it’s not all bad statistics. Massachusetts did get good marks somewhere. Its speeding-related incident rate was a mere 1.3, tying it with New Jersey for the fifth-lowest speeding-related incident rate.via GIPHYMassachusetts is in good company with Rhode Island, California, Washington D.C., and New Jersey, the next four states with the worst drivers. Meanwhile, Arkansas, Michigan, Vermont, Kentucky, and Oklahoma were the top five states.Let’s be honest: at some point in our lives, we’ve all thought that the city we live in has the worst drivers. We’ve tried (and failed) to repress our road rage as someone cut us off, groaned as someone failed to use their turn signal or waved our fist at someone tailgating us. And we've all seen someone distracted on the road by their phone—though let's face it, most of us have been guilty of that modern day sin. via GIPHYAt the very least, we point a finger at the next state over. For many of us that wouldn't be the case, but if you live in New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, or New York, you’d be correct! Enjoy living in superiority!Although I must say, as a Californian I truly thought the Sunshine State would take home the title. Our freeway systems alone…oy. I suppose we'll have to settle for 3rd place in a contest nobody wants to win. See where your state ranks here.