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Where Does Your State Rank in Driving Ability?

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The 2017 Safe Driving Report by leading online insurance marketplace EverQuote, Inc., has determined that drivers in the Northeast are speed-demon cellphone using drivers, while their Midwest and West counterparts clock in as the safest drivers across this great country due to their diligence to obeying traffic laws.

Data was collected through EverQuote’s safe-driving app, EverDrive, which tracked the driving behavior of Americans in every state from April 6, 2016, through March 6, 2017, approximately “from more than 20 million vehicle trips and 230 million miles driven.”

According to the report, as a nation, we are not living up to our safest driving potential.

“Nationally, drivers received an average safe driving rate of 79 out of 100, classifying them as ‘C’ students under the National Center for Education Statistics grade point average scale,” stated the report.

And, although our performance was underwhelming, we do like to drive—A LOT.

“With more than 256 million miles logged, drivers recorded enough miles to travel around the Earth nearly 10,280 times, or 1,071 times to the moon, according to NASA,” stated the report.

And it was old-fashioned speeding–and not our modern dependence on cellphones when behind the wheel–that ranked as the  most popular unsafe thing to do while driving, according to EverQuote; cellphone use is a very close second to speeding though, with hard braking, risky acceleration, and hard turns hot on their trails.

According to the report, “on average, men were five percent more likely than women to speed during trips,” and “male drivers are 10 percent less likely to use their phone while driving than female drivers.”

Here is a breakdown of the best and worst drivers by state, according to EverQuote’s report:

Top Five States for Driving Skills

  1. Montana
  2. Wyoming
  3. Alaska
  4. South Dakota
  5. North Dakota

Bottom Five States for Driving Skills

  1. Rhode Island
  2. Connecticut
  3. Pennsylvania
  4. New Jersey
  5. New Hampshire

“It’s clear that driving behavior differs significantly by region, but unfortunately cell phone use in each state remains unacceptably high,” said Seth Birnbaum, CEO of EverQuote. “It’s our hope that as more people monitor their own driving habits, everyone in the country will be able to improve their skills. Our goal is for the data to shed light on regional differences, empowering those in every state to be alert to the common bad habits and avoid costly and dangerous accidents.”

News Source: EverQuote