We all assume a certain level of risk every time we hop into our little balls of steel and plastic to hurtle ourselves down the highway at 70 miles per hour. But some places are a lot more risky than others.
ConsumerAffairs recently released an analysis of 2021 U.S. Department of Transportation data to identify where the worst drivers are, based on metrics including fatal crash rate, drunk driving fatalities and pedestrian fatalities. Car crash fatalities reached a 16-year high in 2021, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations says.
Following are the cities with populations of at least 100,000 that are home to the most dangerous drivers in America.
10. Pueblo, Colorado
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 45.4
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 14.2
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 3.6
Not only are you more likely to be in a car crash in Pueblo, Colorado, you also might be more likely to be hit by a car that’s stolen. In 2021, Pueblo made the list in “10 Cities With the Worst Auto Theft Rates.”
9. Hesperia, California
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 45.6
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 26.7
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 10.9
It’s not along the “dark desert highway” from the Eagles’ song “Hotel California” — that’s State Route 62, around 90 minutes east — but Hesperia looks out over the same region of the Mojave Desert.
7. Victorville, California (tie)
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 47.1
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 26.5
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 9.6
Hesperia’s neighbor, Victorville, does sit along a famous road — Route 66. In fact, it’s home to a Route 66 Museum.
7. Detroit, Michigan (tie)
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 47.1
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 23.7
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 7.7
It may come as no surprise that there are a lot of cars in Motor City, but there is also a long history of dangerous driving here. As The Detroit News puts it:
“In 1917, Detroit and its suburbs had 65,000 cars on the road, resulting in 7,171 accidents and 168 fatalities. Three-fourths of the victims were pedestrians. Detroit differed from New York City and the east coast, where most automobiles were driven by uniformed chauffeurs hired by the wealthy. In Detroit everyone from nearly all incomes was driving.”
6. Cleveland, Ohio
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 47.3
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 19.8
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 8.2
Cleveland has an ongoing pilot project to slow down drivers in residential areas, and it has wide support from residents. Its speed tables have brought average speeds down nearly 8 miles per hour since the fall of 2022.
5. St. Louis, Missouri
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 47.4
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 24.2
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 8.2
While St. Louis marks Missouri’s only spot near the top of ConsumerAffairs’ worst drivers list, there are three others in the top 60.
The state was one of just two lacking a distracted driving law until 2023. It now has one, but police won’t be writing tickets for it until January 2025.
4. Macon, Georgia
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 49.1
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 30.0
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 3.8
“For years, Macon has been one of the deadliest cities in Georgia for pedestrian crashes,” says The Macon Newsroom. But now, the county is investing half a million dollars in new safety projects.
3. Albuquerque, New Mexico
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 50.8
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 23.6
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 8.2
Bugs Bunny unfortunately wasn’t the only one taking wrong turns in Albuquerque in 2021. ConsumerAffairs reports that the city had 49 pedestrian fatalities in 2021, as well as 133 car crash fatalities.
2. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 73.8
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 36
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 6.8
Baton Rouge has the highest rate of drunk-driving fatalities in the country (10.4 per 100,000 people), more than twice the national average (4.8 per 100,000 people). It also has twice as many fatal car crashes as nearby New Orleans, which ranked No. 61 overall.
1. Memphis, Tennessee
ConsumerAffairs “Crash Score” for this city: 86.6
Total car crash deaths per 100,000 people: 37.9
Deaths caused by speeding per 100,000 people: 7.6
In 2021, Memphis had nearly as many fatal crashes caused by bad driving (203) as Chicago (118) and New York City (107) combined. About 1% of all fatal car crashes caused by bad driving across the entire U.S. that year happened in Memphis.
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