Worst Drivers In America: How New York Ranks

NEW YORK — Although the pandemic may have cut down on people's driving during the last year, it didn't stop New Yorkers from hitting the road. A new report found New York ranked 50th among the worst drivers in the United States.

So to put it another way, New Yorkers are really the best drivers in the nation compared with the other 49 states.

The law firm of Friend, Levinson & Turner looked at the state’s number of DUI arrests, fatal collisions, uninsured drivers and how many internet searches were made in New York 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 New York scored zero. Around 156 DUI arrests per 100,000 residents are made in the state, six fatal collisions per 100,000 residents typically occur, and only 6.1 percent of New York’s drivers are uninsured.

Looking at regional trends, the firm found Southern states made up half of the top 10 worst drivers in the country. It also found Western states made up one-third of the worst.

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 capita — 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 capita. The state also had one of the highest fatal-collision rates with 31 per capita.

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.