New Study Names the Best and Worst States for Drivers
Research conducted by WalletHub found that Oregon is the best state for drivers, while Hawaii is the worst
Photo: Jeff Turner
When stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic during your morning commute, it might be easy to assume that your state has the worst drivers and congestion in the nation. WalletHub recently conducted research to find out which U.S. state is actually the worst for drivers.
According to the organization’s extensive research, Hawaii is the worst state for driving, while Oregon is the best.
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In order to quantify what makes one state better than another in terms of driving, WalletHub focused on four key factors. These factors were cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, access to vehicles and maintenance, and safety.
The cost of ownership and maintenance in Hawaii was the highest out of any state, one of the many reasons why Hawaii was declared to be the worst state for drivers. Other states near the bottom of the list included Alaska, Washington, and California.
Photo: Les Williams
Meanwhile, Oregon was something of a jack-of-all-trades, not ranking first in any one category but receiving good scores in each of them. This helped it earn WalletHub’s title as the best state for drivers. Oregon was followed closely behind by Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa.
Outside of the company’s rankings, WalletHub also examined which states ranked high and low for a number of different automotive categories. For example, Vermont was found to have the lowest car theft rate, while Alaska had the highest rate of car theft.
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As for daily commutes, Mississippi had the lowest percentage of rush-hour traffic, while California had the most congested traffic in the country. Missouri had the lowest average gas prices, while Hawaii’s gas prices were the highest.
To see how your state ranked in terms of driver friendliness, you can read all about WalletHub’s research and results here.
Source: WalletHub
Zachary Berry currently resides in the Dayton, Ohio area. However, he enjoys traveling from place to place, as he was born in Oklahoma City and has also lived in Albuquerque and Orlando (such is the life of a military brat). Zachary graduated from Ohio University with a major in Strategic Communication, which is fancy talk for advertising and public relations. Beginning his career at The News Wheel as a lowly intern, he was able to climb his way to the top, eventually claiming his place within the last cubicle on the left. Other jobs that Zachary has held include driving around a safari truck at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. When he’s not putting his nose to the grindstone, Zachary enjoys watching and critiquing movies and television. See more articles by Zachary.