One New England state is the worst when it comes to distracted driving. And another state isn’t doing so great, either.
I’ll tell you this right up front, though: neither state is Massachusetts. Which is a welcome change of pace, frankly. Already this year, I’ve written about how bad road rage is in Boston (it’s not the worst, mind you, but still). Massachusetts also made a recent Top 10 list of impolite states. And the Commonwealth isn’t exactly known as the safest place to drive, either. It can be very dangerous at times.
That’s why I was surprised to see Massachusetts not pop up at the top of this recent piece put together by Assurance. It’s called The Worst States for Distracted Driving, and it focuses on the type of activities drivers indulge in behind the wheel that lead to distracted driving. Things like selecting music, eating, checking the GPS, and, of course, texting while driving.
Which New England State Tops This Distracted Driving List?
Here’s the methodology behind the Assurance report: “To understand how prevalent distracted driving is on roads today, we surveyed over 3,200 U.S. drivers about their distracted driving habits from texting and checking their phones to applying makeup and changing music. Further, we wanted to find out which states had the most distracted drivers based on how often residents in each state are texting while driving.”
So what’s the New England angle? The Granite State tops their list, with half of all respondents admitting to texting while driving. And the Ocean State landed on the shortlist of “texting most often” that the report shared. I’ve shared the graphic below, which you can also see on the full report here. But let’s look and see what other states are guilty of distracted driving or, more specifically, texting while driving.
