This Map Shows The States With The Worst Drivers In The U.S.

Do you ever drive into a state and just know you’re about to encounter some wacky driving? Do you feel like drivers from one state are categorically worse than another? Well, wonder no more: Forbes Advisor just compiled a map to see which states have the most dangerous drivers.

Although bad drivers all being from a certain state is a funny enough anecdote, the map comes at a time when roadway deaths are climbing. According to data from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, citing numbers from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, there were 35,766 fatal car crashes in the U.S. in 2020, which resulted in 38,824 deaths.

To determine which states have the worst drivers, Forbes Advisor compared all 50 states and Washington, D.C. across six metrics per 100,000 licensed drivers:

1. number of drunk drivers involved in fatal car accidents
2. number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver
3. number of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver
4. number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving the wrong way on a one-way street or on the wrong side of the road
5. number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who failed to obey traffic signs, traffic signals, or a traffic officer
6. number of drivers who looked at a phone per mile

The higher the “number” on the map, the worse a state ranks. And unfortunately, there was one state that was the clear frontrunner for worst drivers: Texas.

“Texas tops the list of worst drivers by state,” Forbes Advisor noted. The state has a score of 100, the highest you can get for bad drivers, “while Washington, D.C., is home to the best drivers in the nation,” scoring zero.

Texas had really high numbers of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver and fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving the wrong way. The state also reported the third-highest number of fatal crashes involving drunk drivers and was high on the list for fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver.

Here are the states with the worst drivers:

1. Texas, with a score of 100
2. Louisiana, with a score of 89.32
3. Kansas, with a score of 84.79
4. Oklahoma, with a score of 80.53
5. Kentucky, with a score of 78.96

These are the states with the best drivers:

1. Washington DC, with a score out of 0
2. Vermont, with a score of 5.02
3. Minnesota, with a score of 10.79
4. Massachusetts, with a score of 13.86
5. Connecticut, with a score of 19.80

To read the full report, check out Forbes Advisor.