Colorado Has Some Of Worst Drivers In America: Study

Scroll through Facebook and Twitter feeds from Coloradans and you might conclude we have the worst drivers in America. Turns out, that’s not far from the truth.

Bad drivers are everywhere. There’s no avoiding them altogether. But a new report from the insurance comparison platform Quote Wizard suggests some states have way worse drivers than others. The company on Thursday ranked Colorado 26th in the country for worst drivers.

Overall, the Great Plains and West regions tended to perform worse on the rankings, with Nebraska, California and North Dakota all ranking in the bottom five. But Maine has the worst drivers in America, according to the authors.

Related: Denver Metro Among Deadliest In US For Pedestrians

“A drastic rise in traffic citations and fatalities are to blame for Maine’s jump from seventh worst last year to the absolute bottom of the bunch this year,” the authors wrote. “But don’t just take our word for it. According to Maine.gov, there was an increase of more than 1,500 car crashes from 2016 to 2017.”

Here are the 10 states with the worst drivers, according to the company.

1. Maine
2. South Carolina
3. Nebraska
4. California
5. North Dakota
6. Minnesota
7. Idaho
8. Ohio
9. Utah
10. Washington

Meanwhile, the South and Midwest tended to perform much better on the rankings, with Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Arizona and Illinois ranking in the top five. Michigan drivers earned top marks for their fewer citations, speeding and deaths last year.

“If you want a stress-free road trip, pack your bags and head to the Great Lakes State,” the authors wrote.

The study notably only accounted for insured drivers — something that likely could have pushed Michigan down the list, seeing as about 20 percent of drivers in the state don’t have auto insurance, according to the Insurance Research Council.

Bad drivers are costly, and not only in terms of your sanity. Crashes are the leading cause of death in America and were expected to cause around 40,000 deaths last year. Moreover, insurance rates depend in part on how well the people around you drive. Insurers look at your zip code to determine your price. If your neighborhood has a penchant for poor driving, that’ll cost you.

“Because the more bad drivers there are on the road, the higher the chance of a collision,” the authors wrote. “Even if you’re a fantastic driver, living in a state full of speed demons or reckless traffic weavers can cause your rates to skyrocket.”

The study sampled incident data from the users of its website and then compared that to data from the Federal Highway Administration. This includes accidents, speeding ticket, DUIs, citations and deaths.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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