How New Jersey Drivers Rates Among Other States

Anyone who drives on the major highways in New Jersey knows that people are always in a rush. Cars go zooming past at speeds way above the limit. If you look ahead, it appears cars are changing in and out of lanes like ping-pong balls across the table. It feels like everyone's in their little bubble and no one is paying attention to others on the road. One thing that gets on my nerves is trying to change lanes. You would think when someone sees your blinker on it would signal that you need to get over, perhaps maybe you need to exit, right? But here in New Jersey, it seems like when they see your blinker they speed up so you don't get in front of them. It's frustrating and unsafe. How Safe are New Jersey Drivers? I saw this survey from Munley Law that compared different states based on things like fatal crashes, DUI arrests, and pedestrian fatalities. Turns out, the Northeast, including us Jersey folks, and even Hawaii, have the lowest traffic incident rates. New Jersey drivers are considered #2 on the list of best drivers, right behind New York! Leading Cause Of Deaths Among Drivers According to the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration, the number of pedestrians killed in traffic accidents is at a record high. Drunk driving is causing more fatalities than ever before. Drunk driving is not just here in Jersey, it's a nationwide issue. The U.S. has fallen behind other developed countries when it comes to preventing motor vehicle fatalities, which is really concerning. Survey Finds: States With the Best Drivers Best Drivers  — New York While New York wasn’t number one in any single category, its consistently high performance across multiple metrics placed it in the first place. New York had the second-lowest rate of overall traffic fatalities in 2023, and the third-lowest number of drunk driving fatal crashes. The state also scored above average in all the other categories in our ranking. 2nd Best Drivers — New Jersey New Jersey was also an all-rounder. It tied with New York for the 3rd lowest rate of drunk driving fatal crashes in the country, had the 4th lowest rate of speeding-related fatal crashes and got above-average scores in all other categories. 3rd Best Drivers — Hawaii Hawaii had low rates of drug use disorder and drunk driving crashes, and the third lowest rate of traffic fatalities in the U.S. The state also had the second-highest rate of observed seatbelt use, with 95.9% of drivers choosing to wear their seatbelts. Survey Finds: States With the Worst Drivers Worst Drivers — New Mexico New Mexico didn’t have the worst score in any single category, but it was consistently near the bottom in most of them, which is how it got the worst overall score. The state had the second-highest rate of speeding-related fatal crashes, the third-highest rate of drunk-driving fatal crashes and the third-highest rate of pedestrians and cyclists killed by motor vehicles. New Mexico also had the second-highest percentage of uninsured drivers in the country. 2nd Worst Drivers — Mississippi Mississippi had the second-highest rate of motor vehicle fatalities and the third-highest percentage of uninsured drivers. The state scored below average in most other categories, which got it our second-worst overall score. 3rd Worst Drivers — Wyoming Wyoming had the highest rate of overall motor vehicle fatalities in the U.S. as well as the highest rate of speeding-related fatal crashes in 2022. However, pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents were only 1.38, well below the national average of 2.26. Wyoming also had the fewest uninsured drivers in the U.S., at only 5.9%. One Of My Scariest Days Commuting to Work In case you are wondering, that cover photo is one I took on RT. 78 one morning on my way to work! As I'm driving in the fast lane, there is a car headed toward me. Just another day of commuting in New Jersey! -Maryann Morgan