During your commute to work every morning, you have a pretty good chance of seeing a car crash. More likely than not, you’ll see someone driving too slow or too fast for conditions. A majority of you will see someone texting and driving on a daily basis. Seeing people run red lights is almost assured. When you see these things, day after day after day, I’m sure many of you think “Atlanta has the worst drivers.” If a new study by Slate is too be believed, you are wrong. Atlanta doesn’t have the worst drivers, Miami does.
The data compiled by Slate, an online daily magazine published by the Washington Post Company, ranked 39 of the largest cities in the United States on overall driving ability. The study shows Atlanta having the 11th worst drivers in the country.
How did Slate determine the rankings? They used various sources (insurance data, police reports, etc.) to come up with a handful of categories that they felt reflected overall driving ability. The categories included:
-Average miles traveled per household
-Average years between accidents
-Automotive fatalities
-Pedestrian strikes
-Automotive fatalities involving alcohol
Slate crunched the numbers and adjusted for population differences and the like. After the statistics were weighted properly, each city was given an overall driving score. Atlanta registered a 15.16 which made it 11th “worst” on the list. Miami, scored a 6.10, while Irvine California scored the best, 33.73, good for 39th place.
The study was not kind to Florida drivers in general, not just those in Miami. Hialeah drivers were deemed the third worst in the nation, followed by Tampa drivers (fourth worst), Orlando drivers (seventh worst) and Ft. Lauderdale drivers (eighth worst).
Texas was well represented on the list with seven cities topped by Houston (9th) and Dallas (14th). Los Angeles, with perhaps the worst traffic in the country, came in 21st place, one of seven California cities listed including San Francisco and Oakland.
New York City fared surprisingly well, ranked 24th overall. Washington D.C., known for gridlock both politically and on the roads came in 16th place.
While the study is not perfect, I think it does a fairly good job taking into account what we consider to be “poor driving habits.”
Other notable cities on the list:
-Philadelphia (2)
-Baltimore (5)
-New Orleans (6)
-Pittsburgh (12)
-Chicago (18)
-Seattle (30)
-Boston (31)
About the Author
