30 American Cities With the Worst Drivers

• High citation rate
• High number of speeding incidents
• High number of DUIs (423 per 100K residents)

Portland ranked fairly high in a number of different categories pertaining to the worst driving habits. Out of every city in the country, it ranked 30^th overall.

While the city of Portland ranked only 52^nd in terms of accident rate, it ranked much higher in other categories. For DUIs, Portland ranked number 35. For both speeding and citations, it ranked even higher, coming in at number 26 for both respective categories.

• High speeding rate
• High number of accidents
• Lower number of actual citations

Columbus ranked much higher than Portland when it came to the number of accidents. In that category, the city ranked number 29, helping to earn its 29^th spot on the list of the worst drivers.

On the bright side, Columbus fared better when it came to citations and the number of DUI incidents. In those categories, it ranked number 52 and number 48, respectively. Where Columbus did the worst, however, was when it came to speeding, as it ranked number 10 in the country.

• High number of speeding incidents
• High rate of citations
• High rate of accidents

Orlando, Florida may have a much better DUI rate compared to the other states on this list, but it ranks much poorly in other categories, especially when it comes to speeding.

Orlando, Florida ranks close together in terms of citation rate and accident rate, ranking number 26 and number 25 respectively. While those rankings are pretty high in and of itself, its even worse for speeding, earning a spot at number 19 in that category.

• High DUI rate (590 DUIs per 100K residents)
• High speeding rate
• High number of accidents

Accidents and speeding seem to go hand-in-hand in Denver, Colorado as the state ranks number 31 in both respective categories. That being said, at least it’s not the very worst?

In terms of citations, Denver did a bit better, ranking 38 in that category – but obviously there is a lot more room for improvement. Its DUI ranking is actually its highest, ranking number 25 out of all the major cities in the country. They may want to put down the bottle, before they get themselves in more trouble.

• High speeding rate
• Large number of accidents
• Large number of citations

Baltimore gets a bad rap, sometimes undeservingly. But when it comes to bad drivers, it's all true. Residents here go an average of 4.2 years between accidents, which is a full 60% shorter than the national average. 

average of 4.2 years between accidents, which is a full 60% shorter than the national average. 

Baltimore, Maryland ranks number 70 when it comes to DUI incidents, making it one of the best in that category. However, the good doesn’t erase the bad and Baltimore residents aren’t so mindful when it comes to speeding, ranking number 14. For overall citations, they earned a spot in number 20. They are also an accident prone city, ranking number 17 in that category.

• High DUI rate
• High accident rate
• Moderately high speeding rate

Omaha, Nebraska, on the other hand, is not so great when it comes to DUIs. When it comes to DUI incidents, the state ranks number 14 which makes it one of the worst offenders on the list.

Omaha also performed poorly when it came to accident rate, ranking 21 in that category. Is drunk driving to blame? At least somewhat. There’s also speeding that they struggle with, coming in at number 37. But hopefully, Omaha can turn their act around. At least they ranked only 44 for citations.

• High number of accidents
• High number of citations
• Moderately high speeding offenses

Residents of Miami, Florida can’t help but wreck their cars. The state is one of the worst when it comes to accidents, coming in at number nine in that category. And when they aren’t getting in accidents, they are getting stopped by the police.

For traffic citations, Miami ranked number 15 in the country, indicating that these particular Floridan’s may not quitter understand the rules of the road. Speeding is one issue, where the state ranks about in the middle at around 33^rd. But at least the state only ranks 54^th for DUI.

• Ranks among the top five for speeding
• High number of citations
• Moderately high accident rate

Honolulu, Hawaii easily has one of the worst speeding ranks in the country, but to be fair, it also has the lowest maximum speed limit in the country at 60 mph. That, being said, the citizens of Honolulu are struggling to stay within those limits.

Honolulu ranks number three when it comes to speeding, which is its worst category. For citation ranks, it doesn’t fare much better as it sits at number 16 currently. As for accidents, the city sits at number 24, which is also not great. However, at least the record shows they aren’t drinking and driving as they only ranked number 66 in that category.

• Number one in traffic citations
• Number two in traffic accidents
• Moderately high DUI rate

Rhode Island may be tiny, but the bad drivers in Providence are massive. Their average time between collisions is almost 4 and a half years smaller than the national average! Providence, Rhode Island ranks at the top in two categories, making it a surprise that they are only ranked number 22 among the worst drivers in America.

Providence’s citation rank reaches the number one spot on the list, signifying that Providence has zero Fs to give when it comes to following the rules. And what do they have to show for it? They have a number two rank for traffic accidents. It’s DUI rate is moderately high but the city does rank low for DUIs, as it is only in the 70^th spot.

• Number six in citations
• High number of speeding offenses
• Significant DUI offenses

The people of the Big Apple are collecting traffic citations, like kids collecting candy on Halloween. The city ranked number six in that category, but it performed a bit better in other categories, ensuring it just missed a spot in the top 20.

New York’s second-worst ranking was for speeding, where it placed 24^th in that category. Then, there was DUIs where they performed almost equally as bad, ranking number 28. It’s accident rate was a moderate 44.

• Moderately high number of accidents
• Moderately high number of citations
• Moderately high DUI offenses

Coming in at number 20 on the list, we have Greenville, South Carolina. They don’t have any ranking in the top 10 but they did rank moderately high in all major categories with their highest ranking being accidents at number 18.

It’s second highest ranking was for citations, where is placed 19^th. Meanwhile, Greenville’s DUI rate was number 26 and its speeding rank was number 38.  

• High number of traffic citations
• Significant speeding offenses
• Moderately high accident and DUI rates

Dayton, Ohio was also in the top 20, coming in at number 19 overall. Its worst ranking was for citations, where it placed number 18. It also performed poorly for speeding, earning a spot at number 20.

Areas where it performed slightly better but has plenty of room for improvement: accident and DUI rank. In those categories, the city placed 28^th and 33^rd respectively.

• In the top 10 for DUI offenses
• High number of accidents
• Relatively low speeding rank

Virginia Beach certainly has issues with DUIs, as the state ranks number nine in that respect. As for accidents, it didn’t do much better coming in at a very unlucky number 13.

Virginia Beach ranked number 21 for citations, which also helped put it in the top 20 overall, but it did do better when it came to speeding rank as it only placed number 51.

• High number of traffic citations
• High number of DUIs
• Relatively high accident rate

The state of Virginia ended up making the list twice, thanks to Richmond. The city’s biggest issues were with traffic citations and DUIs, but its accident rate was also pretty high at number 23.

For citations, the capital city of Virginia earned a spot at number 10, and it was in the number 15 spot. Its speeding rank was a moderate number 43 ranking, leaving much room for improvement.  

• High number of speeding violations
• High number of DUIs
• High number of traffic citations

Colorado Springs is the second most populated city in Colorado. That being said, it’s not a huge surprise they have their share of terrible drivers.

Colorado Springs has among the highest speeding violations, coming in at number 13 in that category. For DUI’s it ranked number 18 and for citations it ranked number 22. Its best category, to put it lightly, was its accident rank, placing 38^th on that list.

• High speeding rate
• High DUI rate (around 65 annually)
• High number of accidents

Columbus makes the list again! This time its Columbus, Ohio doing the damage, however -  and we mean that literally as the city reached the 25^th spot on the accident list.

It’s speeding rank came even higher at number 16 and its DUI rank was number 19. In Columbus, there are 22 DUI offenses for every 100K citizens. For citations, Columbus ranked at number 29.

• High accident rate
• High number of DUI offenses
• High speeding rank

I wish I could tell you this is the last time you’ll see Florida on our list, but I would be lying to you. Tampa, Florida comes in at number 14 overall due to its accident rate and DUI offenses.

For accident rate, Tampa earned a spot at number 11. As for DUI, offenses, it earned a spot in the top 20 as well coming in at 17. Fortunately for them, it just missed the top 20 for speeding, coming in at number 21. Lastly, there’s its citation rank which was number 34.

• Ranks number seven in speeding
• High number of citations
• High number of DUIs

Cleveland, Ohio has another one of the worst records for speeding, ranking number seven in that category. Fortunately, it is Ohio’s last appearance on the list of the worst drivers.

So, what else made this city one of the worst? There was the fact that it ranked number 12 for citations and ranked number 22 for DUIs. It was also moderately high in terms of accident rate as well, ranking number 39.

• Number one in speeding
• Number four for traffic citations
• Number 20 in DUIs

Milwaukee, Wisconsin clearly has the need for speed. They are the very worst offender for speeding, ranking at the top spot in that category. At least they are number one in something!

But not without consequences. When it came to traffic citations, Milwaukee placed number four. Their DUI rank was also in the top 20 at number 20, of course. Their best area was accidents where it earned only a spot at number 45. So, while they may be breaking all the rules, at least they are crashing all their cars.

• High speeding rate
• High number of DUIs
• Relatively high number of accidents and citations

Salt Lake City, Utah, too, has a speeding problem, though clearly not as bad as Milwaukee. For speeding, the city ranked number six in that category. And when they aren’t speeding, they are getting drunk behind the wheel.

Salt Lake City earned a number 12 rank for DUIs. And while they performed a little better in accidents and citations, their rates were still exceedingly high at 22 and 27, respectively.

• 10^th worst city for drivers
• Number five for speeding
• High number of citations

And now we have reached the top 10 and we start with Florida. Jacksonville, Florida ranks as the worst city for drivers in the state and the 10^th worst city for drivers in the country.

Jacksonville managed to earn a top-five spot for speeding, ranking none other than number five. Its citation rank was number 11 and its accident rate was number 14. Lastly, was its DUI rate which was a moderately high 37.

Richmond, California ranked number two for speeding out of all major cities in the United States. For DUIs, it also made the top ten, ranking at number ten in that respect. It’s accident rate was high at number 15 its citation rank was fairly high at number 24.

• High speeding rate
• High number of accidents
• High number of DUIs

Riverside, California is the second California city to make the list in the top 10, and boy oh boy, did it earn it. The city made three spots in the top ten for accidents, DUIs and speeding.

The city ranked number five for accidents and number six for DUIs. When it came to speeding, it ranked number eight, but the one thing it had going for it was for citations, but again, we say this lightly because it was still at number 31.

• Number 10 in accidents
• Number three in DUIs
• High number of speeding violations

Fresno, California is the fifth most populated city in California, and they have plenty of traffic accidents to show for it. It comes in at number 10 according to 2022 statistics.

But its even worse for DUIs, placing number three in that category. For speeding and citations, the city ranked number 17.

• Number four ranking for accidents
• One of the highest DUI and citation rates
• High speeding rate

Home to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo, you’d almost wonder if all the animals are driving cars in Sand Diego, seeing as how terrible the driving statistics are and how often accidents are occurring.

San Diego ranked number four for accidents. It placed fifth on the list for both DUIs and citations. The only area it did slightly better was for speeding but it still ranked in 29^th place.

• Around 7 years between collisions
• Number four for DUIs
• One of the 10 highest for speeding and citations

We're not sure why anyone would willingly live in San Francisco. There are so many reasons to stay away, including bad drivers. They go an average of 6.8 years between collisions, which is one of the lower figures in the country. 

San Francisco is at its worst when it comes to DUIs, which is not a huge surprise, but it ranks number seven for that. And then it ranks number nine for both citations and speeding, which probably go hand-in-hand to be honest. And then there’s accidents, which San Francisco ranks number 12.

• Average time of collisions is 85%
• Accidents occur every six years
• Number two in citations

Exactly zero people are surprised that Los Angeles made this list. It was inevitable. The average time between collisions here is 85% compared to the national average, making a accident likely to occur every 6 years or so.

Los Angeles ranked in the top five of three categories. It got a number two rank for citations, a number three rank for accidents and a DUI rank of number four. The only category it wasn’t one of the very worst was for speeding, where it ranked number 22^. and that’s probably because of all the traffic jams slowing everybody down.

• Number one worst for accidents
• Number three in citations
• High speeding and DUI offenses

The Louisiana capital of Baton Rouge might need to take a driver's ed course. In 2021, accident likelihood between wrecks was found to be 55% compared to the national average. 

Baton Rouge is the worst when it comes to accidents, coming in at number one for 2022. The city ranked number three for traffic citations. For DUIs and speeding it ranked number 13 and number 12, respectively.

• Second highest DUI rate
• Sixth highest accident rate
• High number of citations

Sacramento has earned its spot in second place due to having one of the second-highest DUI rate. Its accident rate is also pretty awful, sitting in at number six.

Citations are a common occurrence, and that’s why it placed number seven there. Finally, for speeding, the city ranked number 11. Being California’s capital city, you’d think its drivers would want to set a better example, but apparently not.

• Number one in DUI offenses
• Number four in speeding
• Number eight for citations and accidents

And now for the grand finale, we have Bakersfield, California in the top spot overall. Bakersfield has the worst drivers in the country with spots in the top 10 for all major categories.

Bakersfield evidently needs to put the bottle down because they ranked number one for DUI offenses. Their speeding offenses were also tremendously high, earning them a rank at number four in that category. As for citation and accident ranking, they both placed number eight.