Texans Are The Worst Drivers In The U.S.? Yup, We’re #1 On This New List.
Let me start off by saying this...I love Texas and the people that live here.
When my family moved here almost 9 years ago, we never expected to love it as much as we do.
But I cannot stand the drivers here. I mean...the worst. And now, I have the data to back that up.
According to a survey recently done by Car Insurance Comparison, our lovely state has checked in at #1 (well, tied with new mexico at least) to top the list of the states with the worst drivers.
So how exactly did they come to this conclusion? If you drive around the state, it's pretty clear that we've got some aggressive drivers. We also have some very non-aggressive drivers, which only makes others become aggressive.
However, this study wasn't based on just driving around the state. There is plenty of statistical data they grabbed, so let's take a look at that.
They looked at five different categories related to bad driving behavior. Those things were car accident death rate, drunk driving, careless driving, failure to obey traffic laws and speeding.
So where did we go wrong? A lot of places, let's just leave it at that. However, careless driving was Texas' worst category, followed closely by speeding. Look, I'd believe all of that and more. When I lived in Austin, you couldn't go fast enough. I swear the speed limit was just a "recommendation" in most people's minds.
And what happens when you drive that fast? Yeah, you start weaving in and out of traffic so you can maintain your speed and open road. The amount of times I've been nearly clipped on the highway from someone driving that way here is unreal.
There is one thing that stood out to me a bit though, and it wasn't a good thing. Out of the top 10 bad driving states, we led all of them in fatal crashes with invalidly licensed drivers. So that means either they didn't have a license to begin with, or it had been suspended or revoked.
In order to get your license suspended or revoked, you have to do something pretty serious or cumulative. Therefore, you probably shouldn't be on the road anyway.
We're also not good about catching an Uber or something home after we've been drinking. This number is flat out staggering...79.56% of our traffic deaths in Texas involve alcohol as a contributing factor. That's just beyond unacceptable, and makes me want to stay home a heck of a lot more now. Mind you we had over 3600 traffic deaths in this survey. You can read the entire survey by clicking here.
Bottom line is this, we need to be better on the road Texas. I enjoy going home to my family, and I also enjoy all the activities I do. Please don't take those things away from me, or anyone, because you thought you were in a Fast & Furious movie.