Kentucky Drivers Rank as One of the Worst in America

If you hate driving around in Kentucky, apparently you have a really good reason...the other drivers.

While Kentucky is full of roads that offer great scenery and make for a great Sunday drive, we also have a few sketchy roads throughout the state too. Whether they are very narrow, curvy, crowded with other drivers, or just full of potholes, I'm sure we can all think of a few roads that we tend to try to avoid. Furthermore, there are a few cities in the state where driving is much more hectic thanks to other drivers. As it turns out, apparently Kentucky is home to some of the worst drivers in the country. That's according to a new report that Kentuckians should take note of.

Forbes recently did a study of the states with the worst drivers for 2024. To determine which states have the worst drivers, Forbes Advisor compared all 50 states across the following eight metrics, using data from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• Total number of fatal car accidents per 100,000 licensed drivers
• Number of drunk drivers (BAC of 0.08+) involved in fatal car accidents per 100,000 licensed drivers
• Number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver per 100,000 licensed drivers
• Number of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver per 100,000 licensed drivers
• Number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who was driving too fast for conditions, speeding or racing per 100,000 licensed drivers
• Number of fatal car accidents involving a driver who disobeyed traffic signs, traffic signals or a traffic officer per 100,000 licensed drivers.
• Number of DUI arrests per 100,000 licensed drivers
• Number of drivers who looked at a phone per mile

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Based on that data, New Mexico tops the list of states with the worst drivers, while Massachusetts is home to the best drivers in the country. However, Kentucky found itself in the top ten states with the worst drivers.

Kentucky Drivers Rank as One of the Worst in America

Drivers in Kentucky may or may not be surprised that the state ranked as the seventh worst drivers in the country. Heck, you may know a few of them...hopefully you aren't one though. Anyway, according to Forbes, Kentucky's roads have a high number of distracted drivers who put not only themselves but other drivers at risk for dangerous and deadly accidents. Check out some of the data that Forbes collected for Kentucky.

• The Bluegrass State has the fourth highest number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver (3.54 per 100,000 licensed drivers).
• Kentucky ranks fifth highest in the number of fatal car accidents involving a drowsy driver (1.07 per 100,000 licensed drivers).
• The state holds the seventh highest total number of fatal car accidents (23.49 per 100,000 licensed drivers).
• It ranks 11th highest for DUI arrests (395.45 per 100,000 licensed drivers).

Kind of makes me think twice about driving through Kentucky. Honestly, especially driving through cities like Louisville is a nightmare for me not only because of the construction, but the drivers there are way more aggressive than I'm comfortable with. I'm not saying that everyone in Louisville or Kentucky are bad drivers, but it only takes a handful to ruin it for the rest of the bunch.