The States With America’s Worst Drivers

Drivers in Hawaii have the worst driving habits, while those in Tennessee have the best driving behavior overall, new research has shown.
Motorists in Hawaii ranked first in a survey of 5,000 drivers in the United States (100 in each state) aged 18 and over for changing lanes or turning without signaling, speeding 20 miles per hour (mph) or more over the limit, and running a red light. The survey was conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Forbes Advisor, based on data collected from June 24 to July 3 this year.
Hawaii was followed by Oregon, New Mexico, Wyoming and Alaska in the top five ranking of states with the worst driving habits.
More From Newsweek Vault: Earn up to 5% Cash Back With a Gas Credit Card
Tennessee, which had the highest rankings for speeding less than 10 mph over the limit and 20 mph or more over the limit, was followed by Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida among the states with the best driving behavior.
Speeding less than 10 mph over the speed limit was found to be America’s worst driving habit, with 39 percent of those with a driver’s license admitting to doing so in the past month, according to the survey.
Just under a third (29 percent) admitted to eating while driving in the past month, which was the second worst driving habit among Americans. This was followed by speeding to catch a yellow light (22 percent), speeding 10 to 19 mph over the speed limit (14 percent) and texting while driving (12 percent) to round out the country’s top five worst driving habits.
Texting while driving was also found to be the worst behavior drivers have witnessed others doing, with 40 percent having spotted others texting while driving regularly (several times in the past month).
More From Newsweek Vault: Online Banks vs. Traditional Banks: Learn the Differences
Younger generations are more likely to text while driving, with 18 percent of members of Generation Z (those born roughly from 1997 to 2012) and 22 percent of millennials (1981 to 1996) admitting to doing so in the past month. By comparison, 11 percent of Generation X members (1965 to 1980), 4 percent of baby boomers (1946 to 1964) and 1 percent of the Silent Generation (1928 to 1945) said they had done so in the same period.
The survey also found that 94 percent of Americans consider themselves to be good drivers, while 50 percent feel driving behavior has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic and only 14 percent say it’s gotten better.
More From Newsweek Vault: Learn About the Best High-Yield Checking Accounts
According to the study, 89 percent of drivers in Hawaii see themselves as good drivers, the lowest percentage across the country. Motorists in Virginia say they’re the best drivers, with 99 percent believing they’re good drivers, yet the state still ranked 14th among the worst states for driving behaviors.
The study’s results also showed that men consider themselves to be better drivers than women, with 96 percent of men feeling this way, compared to 94 percent of women.
Do you have a travel-related video or story to share? Let us know via [email protected] and your story could be featured on Newsweek.