Cities Ranked for Best and Worst Driving

15 Sep 2015

Unless you are able to take public transit, or bike or walk to school, work or wherever else you wish to go, it’s necessary to commute by car. For a lot of us, this means we are on the road almost 200 hours, and the average American driver is stuck in traffic 38 hours a year.

If you live in Seattle, that number goes up to 63, and if you live and work and Los Angeles, well, surprise, surprise, you spend an average of 90 hours a year stuck in traffic.

If you were to add up the costs of fuel and wasted time because of US road traffic congestion, you would come up with a $124 billion annually collective total or around $1700 for each household, according to WalletHub.

In order to find these areas, the 100 most populated US cities were ranked through WalletHub based on the costs of owning a car and commuting in regards to money, time and safety including environment for recreational drivers. WalletHub’s comparison included 21 main metrics consisting of average yearly traffic delays, average gas prices, car clubs per capita, and rates of car theft, and more.

In its ‘Best 7 Worst US Cities to Be a Driver’ study, New York landed last place due to its poor road conditions and traffic, while Texas (Lubbock and Corpus Christi) took the leading two spots as the leading driver-friendly cities.

With regards to the highest rate of car thefts, Missouri, St. Louis, and Ohio took the lead with the rate of car thefts being 27 times higher in Detroit than that of Irvine, California. Philadelphia, PA and San Francisco, CA were most likely to get into an accident when compared with the national average.

In another study, this one from Allstate, drivers in Kansas city were nearly 25 percent less likely to be involved in a car accident than the typical American. On the other hand, Bostonian drivers landed the unwelcome number one spot as the most crash-prone drivers, again though according to the Allstate study.

To help out with these statistics, businesses with fleets should consider GPS fleet tracking, which can help recover a stolen vehicle and improve driver behavior, including curtailing speeding.

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About George Karonis

George Karonis is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of LiveViewGPS Inc., a company he established in 2008 with the vision of making real-time GPS tracking more reliable, affordable, and accessible for businesses of all sizes. Over the past two decades, he has built a reputation as an innovator in GPS tracking, fleet management, asset monitoring, and Push-to-Talk over Cellular (PTToC) communications. Under George's leadership, LiveViewGPS has grown into a nationally recognized provider of GPS tracking solutions, serving businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, law enforcement organizations, and public works departments throughout the United States. The company's technology helps organizations improve operational efficiency, protect valuable assets, increase driver safety, and reduce operating costs through real-time location intelligence. Before founding LiveViewGPS, George developed a background in security, surveillance, and emerging location technologies. His passion for innovation and practical problem solving has driven the development of products that combine dependable hardware with easy-to-use cloud software, giving customers actionable information when it matters most. In 2018, George expanded into nationwide Push-to-Talk over Cellular communications by launching PeakPTT, providing businesses with rugged, instant communication solutions that operate over LTE and Wi-Fi networks. His focus has remained the same throughout his career: delivering dependable technology backed by exceptional customer service and long-term customer relationships. George regularly writes about GPS tracking, fleet management, asset protection, business technology, and communication systems. Through this blog, he shares industry insights, practical advice, and emerging trends to help organizations make informed decisions about tracking technology and connected operations.