Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.

 

16 December 2014

Why are Montana’s drivers the nation’s worst?

First, let’s not dispute Montana’s having earned this deplorable honor. Car Insurance Comparison did the research and the numbers don’t lie. Here are the ten states with the worst drivers (full table):

worst_drivers

And here’s CIC’s summary of Montana’s drivers greatest sins:

Although they finished among the 10 states with the lowest occurrence of Careless Driving, Montana drivers were among the 10 worst in all of the remaining categories, dropping 8 positions from their previous 9th-place finish. Where did they go wrong? They maintained their #1 rank for Drunk Driving, and declined in the Failure to Obey category. You could also argue that improvements in other states were a contributing factor to Montana being at the wrong end of the spectrum.

At least Montana drivers can take some solace in sharing the title of “Worst Drivers” with their fellow award winners in South Carolina.

Some solace. What comes to mind when one thinks of South Carolina? Fort Sumter. Nikki Haley. Jim DeMint. Strom Thurmond. Bob Jones University. The Darlington racetrack. Low wages. Anti-union. And hordes of good ol’ boys in souped-up muscle cars roaring down the highway at 90 miles per hour, singing Dixie, and sipping white lightning from a Mason jar.

And what comes to mind when one thinks of a Montanan driving east of the divide along a long, lonesome highway? A big Caddy with cow horns above the grill steered by a man in a Stetson, doing 90 miles per hour while he sips red beer and listens to the Oak Ridge Boys belting out the Y’ll Come Back Saloon.

So there’s no mystery why we’re the worst drivers in the nation. It’s because we’re speeding drunks who run red lights and take pride in being scofflaws behind the wheel.

My thanks to a good friend for sending me to the CIC’s report.