The Best And Worst States For Driving

In 2016, Car insurance.com published the results of a survey rating fifty states in eight categories establishing which were more favorable for America’s motorists. Utah and Minnesota lead the nation, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. California scored the worst at No. 50, with Oklahoma at No. 49. Pennsylvania finished 43rd or eighth worst in the country.

Each state was scored on the following factors:

• Insurance: Car insurance as a percentage of median household income;
• Uninsured drivers: Estimated percentage of uninsured drivers;
• Traffic fatalities: Traffic deaths per 100,000 population per year;
• Roads: Percent of roads in poor or mediocre condition;
• Bridges: Percent of bridges deemed structurally deficient;
• Repair costs: Estimated extra cost of car repair due to driving on bad roads;
• Gas: Average price of a gallon of gasoline;
• Commute delay: Yearly delay, in hours, per auto commuter in state’s most congested city; and
• Byways: The number of federally designated byways, which refers to the collection of 150 distinct and diverse roads designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation including National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads. This category was used as a tie-breaker.

States that scored favorably on the survey typically received high scores for favorable road conditions, inexpensive car insurance, gas and repair costs, fewer traffic fatalities and hours of commuter delays.

In Hawaii, 1.54 percent of the median household income was spent on car insurance while 6.8 percent was spent in Michigan and 6.65 percent in Louisiana. Only 17 percent of Indiana’s roads are considered to be poor or mediocre compared to 73 percent of the roads in Connecticut and Illinois.

Wyoming had the highest number of fatalities at 25.7 per 100,000 people while Mississippi finished second with 20.3. Massachusetts and Rhode Island had the fewest at 4.9 per 100,000. Oklahoma had the highest percentage of uninsured drivers with 25.9% with Florida second with 23.8%. The three states with the fewest uninsured drivers were Massachusetts (3.7%), Maine (4.7%) and New York (5.3%).

Oklahoma and Missouri had the lowest gas prices at $1.80 and $1.82 per gallon respectively while the nation’s most expensive gas was found in California at $2.78 per gallon. The next highest was Hawaii with $2.60 and Nevada with $2.44 per gallon.

Georgia ($60) was the least expensive state for the cost per motorist for road repairs while California was second only to New Jersey ($601) with a hefty $586. Not surprisingly, California placed first in the categories for most expensive gas and the longest commuter delays. Check out future blogs to see how Pennsylvania fared in the survey.

If you or a loved one has suffered any type of injury resulting from a motor vehicle accident, contact Powell Law at (570) 961-0777. The consultation is FREE and you don’t pay anything unless we win. Our attorneys, past and present, have represented motor vehicle accident victims for 110 years. Call today!