NC now in top 10 for worst drivers

Editorial by Jacksonville Daily News, December 27, 2013.

Admit it. You’ve used some harsh (if not downright nasty) language about a driver who’s pulled out in front of you, cut you off, sped past you like Jimmie Johnson or camped out in front of you at 20 mph under the speed limit while engrossed in a phone conversation.

Afterward, when your blood pressure has fallen to normal and the steam has stopped emitting from your ears, you’ve grumbled, “(Insert state, city or town) has the worst drivers on the planet.”

We’d wager many of those gripers aren’t sinless behind the wheel and might need to take an occasional peek in the mirror. However, they received some extra ammunition for their protests last week when CarInsuranceComparison.com released its annual survey of the worst drivers by state.

The website, which allows people to compare premiums and coverage details for an assortment of automobile insurance companies, uses data from the government (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) and private entities (Motorists.org, the National Motorists Association and Mothers Against Drunk Driving) to compile its rankings.

The criteria are fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, failure to obey traffic signals and seat belt laws, drunken driving (which includes alcohol-related fatalities), the number of tickets issued and careless driving (which includes pedestrian deaths).

This year North Carolina managed to muscle its way to seventh place on the list after being 12th in 2011. In the latest survey, North Carolina tied with Missouri for seventh (out of 51; the District of Columbia was included) with 184 points. That was behind Louisiana (the worst) at 220, South Carolina at 215, Mississippi at 200, Texas at 198, Alabama at 192 and Florida at 188.

By comparison, Vermont finished with 48 points to rank as the state with the best drivers.

There have been a bunch of similar surveys, none of them scientific. A cynic might point out that CarInsuranceComparison.com, on its website, discusses the potential impact these numbers could have on the cost of the product it promotes, auto insurance.

Unscientific doesn’t mean useless, however. Drivers ought to be perpetually aware of the criteria that went into these rankings, but it’s even more critical at this time of the year when the streets and roads are clogged with holiday travelers.

In other words: buckle up; stop thinking yellow means “mash the accelerator to the floorboard” and red means “I’ve got five free seconds to make that left turn;” don’t drive drunk or buzzed; and put down the phone (or at least use a hands-free device) and pay attention to your surroundings.

People are spending the last few days of 2013 making fond memories. Don’t let tragedy on the highway intrude.