The other day I stumbled upon an article on LendingTree about which brands have the worst drivers. The writers break it down by accidents, DUI's and more. I thought it was a very interesting and totally unexpected. I wanted to share here with what I thought were the most interesting parts of the article.
Be sure to check out the whole article by Michelle Lambright Black at LendingTree.com
Methodology
This data was compiled by an insurance provider and everything in this article is based on the data that is available to insurers.
“To determine the best and worst drivers by car brand, researchers calculated the number of driving incidents per 1,000 drivers by brand in every state. This main category included accidents, DUIs, speeding and citations. We examined the 30 brands with the highest number of quotes.” — Michelle Lambright Black at lendingtree.com
- Carelessness or recklessness
- Improper lane usage, improper passing and improper turning
- No insurance or no license to operate a vehicle or misrepresenting a license
- Failure to yield to a car or pedestrian Safety violations, following another vehicle closely and passing a bus
- Not signaling
- Hit-and-runs involving a bicycle or pedestrian
- Having defective equipment or using the wrong road
- Comprehensive or other citations
One thing you will notice throughout the data is that the older brands that are now defunct (like Saturn, Pontiac, and Mercury) have some of the lowest incident rates. There are two things that are likely contributing to this. First, the drivers of these cars are likely older and more experienced. Second, owners of older cars tend to be poorer and are more likely to drive with extreme caution. How's that for counterintuitive?
Brands With The Most Incidents per 1,000 Drivers
Ram drivers consistently ranked in the top five across all four driving incidents analyzed. They recorded the highest number of speeding incidents per 1,000 drivers (4.42) among all brands. Additionally, they had the second highest number of accidents (22.76) and DUIs (1.72), and the fifth highest number of citations (8.00).
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Ram
Tesla
Subaru
Volkswagen
Mazda
BMW
Lexus
Infiniti
Hyundai
Toyota
Jeep
Kia
Honda
Audi
Nissan
Mercedes-Benz
Chevrolet
Ford
Mitsubishi
Volvo
GMC
Dodge
Acura
Chrysler
Lincoln
Buick
Cadillac
Saturn
Pontiac
MercuryBrand With Highest Driving Incidents per 1,000 Drivers by State
Tesla drivers had the highest incident rate in 11 states — aside from Ram, Tesla was the only other brand in the double digits. The nine other brands with the highest driving incident rate in a state were: Subaru, BMW, Infiniti, Volkswagen, Audi, Lexus, Mazda, Saturn, Volvo
Car Brands With the Highest Accident Rate
Tesla drivers exhibit the highest accident rate among all the brands studied, with 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers during the analyzed period. Ram (22.76) and Subaru (20.90) were the only other brands with accident rates exceeding 20.00 per 1,000 drivers. Determining why certain brands have higher accident rates can be challenging. However, there are suggestions that specific types of vehicles may appeal to riskier drivers.
DUIs per 1,000 Drivers by Brand
BMW drivers are the worst offenders for driving while intoxicated. It really is not even close. A BMW is 3x more likely to be under the influence over a Mitsubishi. Maybe the stereotype of BMW drivers being aggressive is just due to them being drunk all the time 🤷♂️