Drivers in 6 California cities are among the nation’s best, study finds

Travis Schlepp
·4 min read

While California might often be associated with street racing, sideshows and road rage incidents, a new study finds that many of the state’s largest cities are actually home to some of the nation’s “best” drivers.

The study, conducted and published by Forbes Advisor, ranked the worst drivers in the 50 most populated metropolitan areas in America. Probably to the surprise of quite a few, many of California’s busiest bustling cities actually fared quite well in the ranking.

Six cities in California were in the bottom 20 for worst drivers, aka, in the top 20 for best drivers.

The list was determined by looking at five unique factors that reflect dangerous driving behavior: total fatal crashes, fatal crashes involving drunk, distracted or speeding drivers, and number of people killed in fatal crashes, each factor standardized per 100,000 city residents.

America’s worst traffic isn’t in Los Angeles

These are the California cities that are home to the best drivers, according to the study findings:

  • San Francisco, CA

    • Overall Rank: No. 2

    • San Francisco had the second-lowest number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver (0.84 per 100,000 city residents), the third-lowest total number of fatal car accidents (3.64 per 100,000 city residents) and the third-lowest number of people killed in fatal crashes (3.81 per 100,000 city residents).

  • Oakland, CA

    • Overall Rank: No. 7

    • Oakland had the lowest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (0.05 per 100,000 city residents). The city also ranked 11th-best in several metrics, including the total number of fatal car accidents, the number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver and the number of people killed in fatal crashes.

  • San Diego, CA

    • Overall Rank: No. 9

    • San Diego had the ninth-lowest number of fatal car accidents involving speeding (1.59 per 100,000 city residents) and the 10th-lowest number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver (1.8 per 100,000 city residents).

  • San Jose, CA

    • Overall Rank: No. 13

    • San Jose reported the 12th-lowest number of people killed in fatal crashes (6.96 per 100,000 city residents), the 13th-lowest total number of fatal car accidents (6.63 per 100,000 city residents) and the 13th-lowest number of fatal car accidents involving speeding (2.02 per 100,000 city residents).

  • Los Angeles, CA

    • Overall Rank: No. 14

    • Los Angeles had the eighth-lowest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (0.16 per 100,000 city residents) and the 12th-lowest number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver (1.92 per 100,000 city residents).

  • Long Beach, CA

    • Overall Rank: No. 17

    • Long Beach had the 15th-lowest total number of fatal car accidents (7.05 per 100,000 city residents) and the 15th-lowest number of people killed in fatal crashes (7.36 per 100,000 city residents).

The California cities that didn’t fare so well were Fresno, which was ranked the city with the 22nd-worst drivers, and Bakersfield, which came in at No. 25.

The worst drivers in America can be found in Albuquerque, New Mexico, according to the study. Memphis, Tennessee and Detroit come in at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. Three of the top 15 cities with the worst drivers are located in Texas.

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While putting the lives of others at risk is the biggest concern with dangerous driving behavior, there’s also a tangible impact on a person’s bottom line.

“More dangerous driving leads to increased risk and higher insurance rates,” Forbes Advisor wrote. “Getting speeding tickets, running red lights, texting while driving and other reckless behaviors all raise your chances of accidents and damage claims. This makes you a greater liability in the eyes of insurers.”

Insurance companies analyze data on a driver’s accident rates, traffic violations and claims history to determine a certain risk level and calculate a driver’s premium.

In short, how you behave behind the wheel also impacts how much you’re spending every month to keep your car insured.

So drive safe, if not for the safety of others, than to save yourself some cash.

The data was taken from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool and averaged over a five-year period between 2017 and 2021, Forbes Advisor said.

To read more about the methodology and see the full list, click here.

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