All of us have encountered rude drivers on the roads. It might appear that your state has more rude drivers than it actually does. Which states have the most rude drivers? Bankrate conducted some research to find out which states could benefit from politeness training by the DMV. California, Nevada and Florida are the most rude drivers. Based on our research, Vermont, Nebraska and Maine are among the politest states for drivers.
These are the rudest drivers in each state
It turns out that states with the most rude drivers do not always have the best drivers. That’s why we used several studies, including other rankings of the rudest drivers, as well as rankings for the rudest states and the states with the worst drivers, to determine our picks for the states with the most and fewest rude drivers.
This is a state-by-state list of the most rude drivers in America.
The states with the most rude drivers
We reviewed data about the rudest drivers in each state. This includes rudeness generally and bad driving habits. California, Nevada and Florida are the states with the most rude drivers.
California
Our research shows that California is home to the rudest drivers in America. Although California is not on the list of states with rude drivers that we looked at, Zippia.com, YouGov.com and California rank California 5th, 7th, and 7th, respectively, for general rudeness. This does not reflect rude driving behaviour.
California is ranked as one of the worst states to drive in the country for rudeness. One 2019 study determined that drivers in Sacramento, California, were the actual worst drivers in the nation. These findings support the thinking that reckless and inconsiderate driving combined with a higher than average alcohol involvement can lead to rude driving.
Nevada
Nevada is second in America for rude drivers. It ranks highly in all three categories: rude drivers and general rudeness, as well as bad driving. Nevada is actually ranked second in the 2021 World population Review’s Bad Driving Index. The state also ranks fourth in YouGov.com’s ranking of states based on general rudeness. These factors are combined to make it easy for Nevada to rank ninth in the column above for driver rudeness.
It has been observed that Nevada is a perfect storm of sorts for bad driving, with a rapidly changing population that includes many new arrivals to the state who are perhaps unfamiliar with the state’s roadways. It is not surprising that Nevada has high rates of reckless, poor and rude driving.
Florida
Moving to the East Coast, Florida ranks third in our study for rudest drivers. Although Florida did not make it to the list in any of our reports on rudest drivers, they were ranked in another survey that examined rudest drivers. They also ranked in the top half for rudest states. This combined with Florida’s top-ranked position in the two studies that looked at worst driving makes it seem like Florida drivers are less polite than they appear.
Considering Florida also ranks second in the country for the most expensive average annual premium for auto insurance at $2,364 for full coverage insurance, the state might not provide the most hospitable environment for drivers.
Oregon
Surprisingly Oregon placed fourth on our list for states with the rudest drivers. It was in the top 50 percent of the rankings in one of our studies on rude drivers. The state also appeared in both the rankings for rudest states, and both the rankings for worst drivers.
New Mexico
New Mexico is our fifth state with the rudest drivers. Although the state didn’t do as well in our studies on rude drivers, it was ranked as the 21st most rude state and the top 20 in both of the worst driver studies that we reviewed.
The least rude states have the best drivers
The following six states ranked among the most friendly on our list of states with the lowest number of rude drivers.
Vermont
Vermont is a great place to be if you are looking for a more polite driving experience. Although Vermont was not ranked in the top ten for rudest drivers, it was near the bottom on the list of rudest states or states with the worst drivers. Its ranking as the sixth most rude state in the Bryden-Sullivan study seems to be an anomaly. This is why we looked at multiple studies to calculate our own ‘rude drivers’ score for each state.
Nebraska
If you’re passing through Nebraska, the Great Plains seem to be a friendly area to drive. It was ranked second on our rudest drivers study and near the bottom of rudest states/worst drivers.
Maine
Maine ranks near the bottom in our list of the most rude states and states that have the worst drivers. This is consistent with its reputation for moderation. It may be because of its beautiful scenery and slower pace of living that it is more friendly to drive on its roads.
Minnesota
In January 2021, Minnesota received a ranking indicating it was the state with the best drivers in the United States. This is great news for Minnesota, which was only three years ago ranked sixth for good drivers by another source. This is a sign of how fast things can change, and also reflects the subjective nature of studies. Minnesota scores high on the rudeness scales in our study.
Delaware
Our top five states with the most polite drivers are Delaware and New Jersey. The state ranked seventh in one of our rudest driver studies and was also in the 15th spot in the rudest states studies. However, it scored well in the other rudest drivers studies and both studies on the worst drivers. This earned it a place on our list for a friendly place to drive.
