5 Of The Worst States To Drive In The US And Why, According To Drivers

Every driver will have their least favorite places to drive in, but some parts of the U.S. score particularly badly across the board. A WalletHub study combined data from numerous sources to determine which states were the worst to drive in, ranking each state across several key metrics before calculating a combined average. The study's categories included driver safety, traffic and infrastructure, the cost of car maintenance and ownership, and driver access to vehicles and maintenance.

Kansas, Idaho, and Indiana topped the table as the best places to drive in the U.S., with low congestion, good driver safety, and affordable, widespread access to cars. At the other end of the table, these five states scored the worst, with poor ratings across most or all of the key categories. While some drivers might find these rankings surprising, comments from other drivers suggest that these states have at least one driving drawback that's worth being aware of.

Aside from drivers' access to vehicles and maintenance, Colorado scored consistently low across every metric in the study. It was ranked 41st best out of 50 states for the cost of car maintenance and ownership, while its traffic and infrastructure were also rated among the worst in the country. Its driver safety rating ranked 43rd.

Drivers in Colorado have to deal with a wide variety of driving environments, from congested urban highways to winding mountain passes like the Million Dollar Highway. For less confident drivers, these varied conditions may prove challenging, and locals might not always be particularly accommodating to slow or inexperienced drivers on highways, either. In response to a request for tips on driving in the state, one Reddit user said that, as a local, they "get that you're not from around here and might not know the roads," but that it's still annoying to locals when they are "trying to pass a truck, and someone yoinks their pavement-queen truck, or even worse, little tiny 4-banger, into the left lane."

Another user suggested that, depending on where someone drives in Colorado, they might not have to worry about high-speed overtaking at all. They said, "Don't worry about [driving in Colorado]. You'll spend your entire time in traffic going no more than 12 mph."

Some drivers might be surprised to see New Hampshire featured among the worst places to drive in. However, the study found New Hampshire's traffic levels and infrastructure to be particularly bad compared to other parts of the country, ranking it 44th out of the 50 states. The cost of vehicle maintenance and ownership, and access to vehicles and maintenance, was also poor, with both categories ranking New Hampshire 37th. Driver safety, however, was the state's strongest category, sitting in 27th place.

Opinions differ as to whether New Hampshire is a bad place to drive or not. Commenting on the news that a different study had ranked the state highly for driving, one Redditor said that New Hampshire was "easily the best [for drivers] in New England, [but] there are too many people disregarding yield signs and using merge lanes to drive like maniacs just to get ahead of one person." Others compared New Hampshire to neighboring Massachusetts — which also scored poorly in the WalletHub study, ranking only two places out of the bottom five overall — noting that "NH is a breeze compared to MA."

Out of all the poorest-scoring states, Montana sees the most variation in its scores between categories. It ranks the second best in the country for traffic and infrastructure, but scores very low in all other categories. Its safety rating was among the worst in the country, ranking 48th place. Other studies back up this ranking, with Montana also having some of the most dangerous roads in America in terms of traffic fatalities, according to IIHS data.

Montana's vehicle costs, which include gas prices, average maintenance costs, and average insurance premiums, also ranked among the worst in the country. Its access to vehicles and maintenance was similarly poor. Furthermore, drivers in Montana must deal with severe weather conditions, particularly in winter, with one TripAdvisor member saying that "some mountain passes in Western Montana [...] can be white knuckle driving."

For less experienced drivers, Montana's Department of Transportation has published a list of tips to stay safe during winter driving. These include using studded winter snow tires as soon as the conditions become cold enough, and keeping an emergency travel kit in your car in case you get stranded.

While its rankings between categories don't vary as much as Montana's, Washington still scores far better in some categories than others. It scores highly for driver safety, placing as the 13th best state in the country. Its access to vehicles and maintenance — things like the frequency of gas stations per capita, parking lot availability, and auto-repair shops per capita — ranks around the national average.

However, its traffic and infrastructure, and car maintenance and ownership costs, place Washington among the poorest performers overall. Traffic in the Puget Sound region is another area of concern, and drivers shouldn't expect that to change anytime soon.

A 2019 report published by the Washington Policy Center think tank states that commuters travelling into Seattle have little choice aside from driving, and that "there is no potential, at any cost, for [public] transit to materially reduce driving or to reduce traffic congestion in the Puget Sound." That's despite the report noting that traffic congestion is expected to worsen through 2040.

Hawaii's driving safety is higher than the national average, but high levels of traffic, limited infrastructure, and high costs and access for vehicles and maintenance leave it ranked low in the study. Officials in Oahu have recently announced that they're cracking down on speeders, using new cameras to capture instances of drivers breaking the limit and sending them fines. It might be particularly easy for drivers who are unfamiliar with Hawaii's roads to get caught, since the state has some of the lowest speed limits in the country.

Commenting on Reddit about the ease of driving in Oahu, one user said to "Drive slow. They give out tickets like [...] hot cake[s]." Another Redditor noted that "Honolulu is city driving, which can freak out your rural drivers." Drivers looking to cut their emissions and switch to an EV will also find Hawaii particularly problematic, since it's the most expensive state to drive an EV by a significant margin. That said, the state's many stunning coastal drives help to offset the hassles of driving there, while the slower pace of driving outside of cities should suit drivers who find high-speed, high-traffic areas particularly stressful.