Texas Emerges As 3rd Worst State For Bad Drivers

AUSTIN, TX —It's become something of a pastime, both within and beyond the Lone Star State, to complain about Texas drivers. A newly released report gives currency to the negative perception, ranking Texas as third among states with the worst drivers.

Researchers at Car Insurance Comparison analyzed various metrics to achieve rankings, including fatality, drunk driving and careless driving, according to an advisory. Among the key findings for Texas is the scourge of drunk driving, with 1,673 of the 3,642 traffic deaths studied found to have involved a driver that had been drinking.

"Texas rose quite a bit when it came to its worst category — drunk driving — where it ranked third-worst out of all states and the District of Columbia in 2018," researchers wrote in their study. In terms of deaths attributed to drunk driving, the total accounted for 45.9 percent of all traffic deaths, the study found. Texas was featured in the 2019 worst drivers study at 5th, analysts noted, meaning that its ranking rose two slots in 2020.

Texas shared the third ranking with Montana on the worst driving list. It's the ninth year the Lone Star State has made the top 10 in the insurance company's rankings.

The worst state for drunk driving is Alaska, the study found. Speeding also emerged as a major problem there, researchers found. Drunk driving and speeding account for 97.5 percent of Alaska’s total traffic deaths, according to the study.

New Mexico ranked second among states with the worst drivers. The worst category for the state was careless driving, with 4.5 pedestrians or bicyclists killed per every 100,000 residents. That record ranks the state as the nation's worst for careless driving.

To learn more, read the full 10 States With the Worst Drivers report.