New York Traffic Ticket Lawyer: How Bad are NY Drivers?

It’s difficult to be a driver in New York or New Jersey (or anywhere else in the Mid-Atlantic region, really) and not hold a certain level of contempt for one’s fellow automotive traveler/commuter.

There are only so many times you can have your tail light smashed by a truck on the Jersey Turnpike, spend hours in dense, accident-created traffic on the Cross Bronx, or narrowly avoid getting side-swiped on the FDR before the thought enters your mind: “These must be the worst drivers in the country.”

Well, at least it’s not Montana.

Montana drivers ranked as the No. 1 worst drivers in the country for the second year in a row, according to data compiled by CarInsuranceComparisson.com.

Big Sky Country ranked No. 1 in fatalities per 100 million miles driven, No. 6 in careless driving (measured by fatalities of pedestrians and cyclists per 100,000 people), No. 8 failing to obey traffic laws, No. 13 in drunken driving and No. 20 in speeding, which is particularly impressive when you consider much of the state’s roads have 80 mph speed limits (although it’s worth noting that the state had no daytime speed limits not too long ago).

New York drivers, on the other hand, were ranked the 28th worst, or 23rd best, if you’re a glass-half-full kinda person. New York shares the 28 spot with neighboring Connecticut as well as Wisconsin. 

Apparently taxi cabs and Uber cars haven’t been pulling their weigh this year, as New York has the 15th highest rate of drunken driving for 2015 after ranking 17th in 2014 and 28th in 2013.

Connecticut drivers were actually more likely to drive drunk than New Yorkers, as the Nutmeg State ranked 4th in drunken driving in 2015 after ranking 11th and 7th in 2014 and 2013, respectively.

The safest place to drive in the tri-state area is New Jersey, which has the 7th best drivers, according to the report.

Low fatality and speeding rates as well as drivers who follow traffic laws are what give the Garden State its favorable rating, though New Jersey ranks 25th in drunken driving and 21st in careless driving. 

Behind Montana in the race for worst drivers in America are South Carolina and New Mexico tied for second, Texas at fourth and Lousiana rounding out the top five.

Minnesota ranked as the state with the best drivers, followed by Ohio, Vermont, Iowa, Nebraska, Virginia and, of course, New Jersey.

Car Insurance Comparison credited frequency of careless driving (i.e. talking and texting on cell phones) and speeding as the most indicative of overall rank.

Article Originally Published on NY Daily News

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