On a scale of 1 to 100, Texas scored 95.12 one the terrible drivers scale. We have the second-highest number of drunk drivers involved in fatal car accidents, rank sixth in fatal car accidents as a result of speeding and 10th for fatal accidents involving distracted drivers.
Of course, we learned all of this first on TikTok, where users flood the site with videos dedicated to Dallas' poor driving habits.
The good news is that Texas is not at the top of any of the fatal accident categories. There might be hope for us yet. The bad news is that Oklahoma ranked fourth, beating us by a mere three points. That should motivate y’all to slow down, sober up and stop looking at your phone.
Texas may not have the best drivers, but at least we don’t have the worst. Or even the second worst. That distinction goes to New Mexico and Wyoming, respectively.
Wyoming claims second place thanks in part to its drowsy drivers. The Equality State has the highest number of fatal accidents involving drowsy drivers and the second-highest number of fatal accidents.
New Mexico scored 100 out of 100 on the dangerous driving scale and has the highest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver and the third-highest number of fatal accidents overall.
The South in general is blowing it in this ranking, with five Southern states ranking in the top 10. Mississippi has the highest total number of fatal car accidents.
Can We Blame This on Californians?
This study dubs the people of Massachusetts as the best drivers in the county with several other Northeastern states such as New York and Connecticut filling up the top 10. In our defense, states like Massachusetts and New York have much more established public transit systems than Texas. Maybe our stats would look a little better if we all took a train to work every day instead of a highway clogged with angry Ford F-150 drivers. (So, no, elite higher education might have nothing to do with it.)
Some of you may be wondering where California falls in the ranking, as it's common among Dallasites to blame traffic and reckless driving on cars with California plates. Is the influx of California transplants contributing to our bad score? Probably not. The Golden State ranks significantly below us at no. 40, so it might be time to rethink that excuse.
These numbers are alarming and embarrassing, but hopefully they will serve as a wake-up call to Dallas’ bad drivers. We hope this inspired you to change your ways, but we realize it’s more likely that you’re reading this in bumper-to-bumper traffic, your phone in one hand and an iced coffee in the other, fully convinced that none of this applies to you.
