Driving-related fatalities have been declining in the U.S. after some big spikes. However, it's still true that nearly 20,000 people die in car accidents in the U.S. each year[1]. But not all areas face the same level of risk because not everywhere has the same drivers. In fact, location makes a huge difference when it comes to traffic safety as well as auto insurance rates. The Zebra set out to find the destinations with the worst drivers by analyzing the 50 most populous cities in the U.S. using five data points:
- Likelihood of collision: The percentage refers to the chance of a crash compared to the national average.
- Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities: The number of fatalities per 100,000 people by state**.**
- Speeding-related fatalities by state: This statistic was tracked over a nine-year period from 2012-2021.
- Annual increase in auto insurance premium after DUI and reckless driving: Pulled from Zebra data, this indicates how harshly premiums are affected after specific violations.
Here are the top 10 cities with the worst drivers in the country.
Want to learn more about how accidents and violations affect your insurance? Check out our guides:
- Car Insurance After an Accident
- Car Insurance with Tickets or Violations
Methodology
The Zebra pulled five data points to analyze the top 50 MSAs (by population) in the U.S. related to driving and car insurance:
- Likelihood of collision[2]
- Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities by state[3]
- Speeding-related fatalities by state[4]
- Annual increase in auto insurance premium after DUI and reckless driving
MSA data was used where applicable, and we sometimes substituted city or state data as necessary.