Every once in a while, you see a news article about a study ranking American cities. Things like, “Most affordable cities to live in,” and “Cities’ with the best parks, ranked.”
Other urban rankings are more serious, such as on recently released by insurance website QuoteWizard, which sorted major U.S. cities by how safe their drivers are. The site ranked the 70 largest cities by several factors, including:
- Car accident rates
- Number of DUIs
- Number of speeding tickets issued
- Other traffic citations, like running red lights
Hartford came out above average as the city with the 24th-best drivers. The city had just the 52nd-most auto accidents and the 42nd-most speeding tickets, though we ranked relatively high in DUIs at 31st.
America’s worst drivers live in…
Meanwhile, the five worst driver cities were:
- Omaha, NE
- Riverside, CA
- Bakersfield, CA
- Columbus, OH
- Richmond, VA
It looks like drunk driving was a major factor. Omaha, Bakersfield, Columbus and Richmond were the top four in DUI arrests. But a variety of negligent behaviors, such as speeding, distracted driving and failure to yield, almost certainly contributed.
Dangerous drivers are still a problem
This is good news for Hartford residents, but it does not mean that serious car crashes do not happen here. Every day, there are several car accidents in Hartford. While most are not serious, many times somebody is left with severe bodily harm. A collision with a reckless driver can injure your brain, spinal cord, back, limbs and any other body part. You could be laid up for months, or disabled permanently.
