Worst Drivers In America: Here's Where Maryland Ranks

MARYLAND — Although the pandemic may have reduced time stuck in traffic during the last year, it didn't stop Maryland drivers from hitting the road and getting into accidents. A new report found Maryland ranked 36th among the worst drivers in the United States.

The law firm of Friend, Levinson & Turner looked at the state’s number of DUI arrests per capita, fatal collisions per capita, uninsured drivers and how many internet searches were made in Maryland for terms like “how to get out of a ticket.”

Those numbers then were used to score the state from 0-100, from best to worst, the higher the score the worse a state’s drivers.

As part of its findings, the firm revealed Maryland scored 41.1. Around 368 DUI arrests per 100,000 residents are made in the state, 11 fatal collisions per 100,000 residents typically occur, and 12.4 percent of Maryland’s drivers are uninsured.

Looking at regional trends, the firm found Southern states made up half of the top ten worst drivers in the country.

Among the top 10 states with the worst drivers in America, the firm found that high rates of fatal collisions and the number of people arrested for DUIs were commonalities.

Below are the 10 states ranked as the worst in America by Friend, Levinson & Turner:
1. New Mexico
2. Arkansas
3. Alabama
4. Wyoming
5. Montana
6. Delaware
7. Louisiana
8. South Carolina
9. Tennessee
10. Missouri

New Mexico was found to have the worst drivers in America, partially fueled by a high number of crashes resulting in fatalities — 25 per 100,000 residents — and the number of uninsured motorists in the state, 21 percent.

Although Wyoming had a relatively small number of uninsured drivers, 7.8 percent, it had one of the highest DUI arrest rates in the country with 683 per 100,000 residents. The state also had one of the highest fatal-collision rates with 31 per 100,000 residents.

Several states received the same score and were tied in their rankings. Arkansas and Alabama tied for second-worst drivers, while a three-way tie saw Tennessee, Missouri and Alaska vie for the ninth-worst.

Conversely, the top 10 states with the best drivers are:
1. New York
2. Massachusetts
3. Pennsylvania
4. Connecticut
5. Illinois
6. Virginia
7. North Carolina
8. New Jersey
9. Ohio
10. Minnesota

Those states scored fairly low, according to the firm’s assessment. New York had the second-lowest rate of fatal collisions, 6 per 100,000 residents and one of the lowest numbers for uninsured drivers, 6.1 percent.

Check out the full report on the worst drivers in America by visiting the firm’s website.