Massachusetts Has The Safest Drivers: Study

MASSACHUSETTS —It's time to retire that old saw about bad Boston drivers, according to a study released this month by AutoInsurance.org.

Researchers analyzed a range of metrics, including fatality rates, drunken driving, and careless driving rates to rank the states with the best drivers. Massachusetts was ranked first overall, up from number two overall last year and in 2019, and number seven in 2018.

In addition to being ranked safest in fatalities, Massachusetts ranked second safest in speeding and failure to obey, and third safest in drunken driving rates. The state's worst ranking was in careless driving, where it ranked 13th. The 2021 study is based on data from 2018, the most recent year available.

"In its worst category, careless driving, 82 pedestrians or bicyclists were killed in Massachusetts in 2018," the study's authors wrote. "This accounted for 22.8 percent of its traffic deaths for that year, creating a pedestrian and bicyclist death rate of one per 100,000 Massachusetts residents."

Massachusetts had 352 fewer traffic fatalities than South Carolina, the state that ranked worst overall in the AutoInsurance.org study. "South Carolina is among the worst states to drive through and often ranks at the very bottom (or close to it) in states with the best drivers lists. It also has some of the worst highways, contributing to traffic deaths," the study said.

States With The Safest Drivers

1. Massachusetts
2. Minnesota
3. New York
4. Rhode Island
5. New Jersey
6. Utah
7. District of Columbia
8. Washington
9. Iowa
10. Maine

Nationally, drunken driving accounted for 10,512, or 29 percent, of all driving fatalities in 2018. That was the highest category for traffic deaths, followed by speeding (26 percent) and careless driving (20 percent).

Read the complete study.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).