Another day, another unfortunate ranking for the Palmetto State …
According to a recent study conducted by CarInsuranceComparison.com – a company we can only surmise provides users with the ability to compare car insurance – South Carolina has the second-worst drivers in America.
Only Louisiana drivers are worse …
The company collected data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and National Motorists Association in preparing its rankings. Among the measurables included in the report were highway fatalities, DUIs, speeding tickets, careless driving citations and seat belt violations.
South Carolina ranked No. 50 nationally in careless driving, and No 49 in drunk driving.
Is this data really a surprise to anyone? Seriously … what was it Forrest Gump said? “Stupid is as stupid does?” Especially when you’re drunk.
Oh … and what’s even dumber than a South Carolina driver? A Palmetto politician making decisions with their highway dollars …
48 comments
BFD. SC potentially passing Nullification on #ObamaCare. Now SC not #ObamaFailsAgain is the worst? #Really?
Drunk so early in the morning?
It’s 5:00 somewhere!
Gosh you know TBG, the pain I feel from these brutal personal attacks by libitards. It just cuts me to the quick. I spent the whole day crying. My self esteem is in the tank. I think I need to go back to my shrink. Maybe they’ll double my Xanax and Prozac dosage.
I don’t know what to do. These folks are just so brutal in their attacks. How do you tolerate it? You’re so strong. You’re my HERO.
Notice the name. Nit Rat. Hmmmm. Maybe….
HAGD!!
You have self esteem?
It seems to me this is more about the number of citations relative to violations than anything else. That sounds like good law enforcement work to me.
Well that’s what I was wondering. Could it be that more towns in SC use traffic tickets as a revenue source than other parts of the country?
I read comments like this all the time.the fact is most money from a traffic fine goes to the State Of South Carolina ,not the locality.
The mayor of Cottagville would disagree.
Facts are facts.The fine for a two point speeding ticket is twenty five dollars and has remained unchanged for about forty years.However,if you get one nowadays you will pay over Eighty Dollars.The town will retain the same twenty five dollars they would have back in the 1970s.The rest goes to the State.
$25 is $25. Just because the percentage to the state goes up, doesn’t mean towns aren’t interested in supplementing their revenue.
# of wrecks per miles driven. # of Fatalities per miles driven. Count only those that involve SC drivers at fault.
DUI tickets, speeding tickets etc may be more of a measure of enforcement practices as opposed to bad driving,
Seatbelt use or non-use has absolutely nothing to do with driving ability.
Pro Tip:
The Highway Patrol will start a campaign to stop “X”. “X” being :drunk driving over a certain period of time (New Year’s Holiday etc), speeding on certain highways, seatbelt compliance etc. They will spend a bunch of money, run a bunch of press, and assign a bunch of officers to these crackdowns.
Compared to previous years, one of three things will happen.
1) X will increase.
2) X will stay the same.
3) X will decrease.
In scenario #1 : “The problem is worse than we thought, so we need to spend a lot more money combating it!”
#2 : In spite of everything we did… we didn’t put a dent in “X”, so we need to spend a lot more money combating it!”
#3 : Our crackdown is working! We are making the people safer and eliminating X, so we need to spend a lot more money combating it!”
* Perceptive readers may notice a pattern.
simple demographics. for those of you who don’t understand, demographics means more people. You hit it right on the head, tonto. While we’re at it…for every new trooper hired, 3 troopers leave.
I’ve driven all over the state on two, four, six, ten and eighteen wheels.
Our drivers aren’t that bad – until you factor in the idiots on I-95 and I-85. Those on I-85 are apparently on their way to a fire or running from the law. The drivers on I-95 haven’t
figured what the dashed white line means and they all appear to have phones congenitally attached to their ears – factor in the snow birds and the average speed runs from 45 mph to 90 depending on which Crown Vic/mobile home you’re following.
We do have an issue with allowing drivers with to little experience to much freedom in the form to the 15 year old driving age (Europe generally has 18 as a minimum, much of the US is 16 to drive alone and 16 years 6 months or older for an unrestricted license (CA is
17, FLA and GA is 18, DC is 21)). The “eight year license” is also allowing some seniors to keep their license far to long (We’ve confiscated my fathers).
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html
Greenville = 467,605
Spartanburg = 288,745
Total = 756,350
Richland = 393,830
Lexington = 270,406
Total = 664,236
Actually, there are almost 100,000 more people in Green-Spar than there are in Rich-Lex.
You are correct sir, I dropped a 100,000 in there some where by looking at cities rather than the county…
Greenville is still the most dangerous county because of I-85, not because of “Greenvillians”.
Has nothing to do with I85. Not many fatals on i85, most on secondary roads
I will say North Carolina and Florida drivers are for the most part worse than SC drivers when it comes to the interstate. Even so, just this weekend some ass clown SC driver on a cell phone nearly ran me off the road because they wanted to get in my lane while I was right next to them. Laying on the horn for 5-10 seconds didn’t produce even the slightest braking, swerving, or even so much as a glance from him.
The saddest part is that the guy was not a teenager, but some middle-aged looking doofus. Hopefully when he wins his inevitable Darwin Award it won’t be at the expense of some poor, unsuspecting sap.
If you really want to see bad, visit Amman, Jordan, Kuwait City or any road with more than one vehicle of any type in Afghanistan…
When a yellow light in this state doesn’t mean speed up maybe things will get better.
I think you mean when a RED light means stop.
That is nothing. According to Karl Smarx, if corporations pay zero taxes, this places SC as second worst for not having corporations that pay taxes.
This is bad news. The drivers have to realize that they cannot drink and drive. This is not just for SC drivers but for all the drivers everywhere. My question is why is this so prevalent in SC? Is booze cheap and made available for everyone? Is that why some politicians do what they do without worrying about consequences? Is that why some people do not vote wisely and make poor choices?
People are drinking to forget. To forget N.Haley is governor, to forget the crazies on the extreme left and right, to forget that this state is last in good stats and first in bad stats, to forget that opportunities are few for the vast majority… to name a few.
What’s even dumber than a South Carolina driver? A blogger who swallowed this bs without applying a modicum of critical thinking. As others have pointed out, the ranking focuses more on enforcement (revenue generation) practices than driving.
I am not surprised… When I moved here to SC I was amazed that when a light turned yellow it seems to mean 4 or more cars can keep coming even if it turn red. It also explains why drivers wait after the light turns green before going – self protection. The sad thing is now I find myself sometimes doing that run the yellow-red light thing if I am in a hurry. . And we won’t even talk about the jerks talking or texting on their phones while driving…
I had two parked cars “totaled” in two separate accidents. Both times, the drivers were drunks flying down my street in the middle of the night on their way home. Both times CPD refused to arrest them for DUI. One was a USC student and when I insisted to the officer that she was obviously intoxicated, the CPD Officer said…”she’s only 22…that kind of thing stays on your record all of your life”. The second CPD officer’s excuse was that is was 4:30 am and that if he had to process the driver he’d be late getting off of his shift. With police work like that…it’s no wonder SC is #2. I’m surprised we’re not #`1!!!
I had two parked cars “totaled” in two separate accidents.
….and neither one involved SCSCCJ Jean Toal. What are the odds?
The Jean Toal thing is getting real old.
Timely use of turn signals would be helpful for SC to rise in the rankings.
Just look at our leaders and the example they are setting: Jean Toal, Andre Bauer, Steve Benjamin, Jadaveon Clowney, Tahj Boyd. Are we supposed to be any different?
Turn signals seem to be optional in SC.
… and most of these bad drivers are transplants who moved here to find jobs. So they are not actually “South Carolinians.”
convenient excuse…..
Didn’t use to be that way……until the folks from up nawth moved down.
Why do I feel an overwhelming urge to do my best Gomer Pyle quotation?
More tickets doesn’t mean worse drivers.
Never really see stats like this available to account for sex, race, age, etc… would be interesting.
of course cherry picked data, like the school data that selectively used only SAT scores that showed sates that discouraged everyone but those relly on a college track from taking the SAT… well suppose we used a filter of tickets issued to the out of state, like all those Ohio tags or used a national filter of what states tags were pulled, rather that WHERE the infractions occurred. but I digress
Worst drivers are in RED states, best drivers are in BLUE states. That tells you the best drivers are wimps and are afraid of driving 100 mph with no seat belt. Conservatism can only go so far,
In the late 50s and early 60s there was a billboard erected at the South Carolina borders on US Highway 1 by the SC Highway Patrol. It went sort of like this: “Welcome to South Carolina, Home of the worse drivers in America. Please drive safely.”
Nothing has really changed.
This does not surprise me. Let it rain or snow and boy it gets much worse!
But we have the best ‘rest areas’.
Not counting all the ones we paid for, but were closed from our use.
Wasting millions of our road tax money.
cops do their jobs……courts are a joke! easier to convict somebody of first-degree murder than first offense dui.
I Brake Hard For Tailgaters. Hit me in the rear, and I own you.
Just drive around Columbia during peak hours, and you will see so many people tail gating – driving very slow in the fast lanes – running stop signs and red lights – not using blinkers, etc. I have personally witnessed USC professors driving as much as 20 mph over the speed limit. The only way to curb SC driving record is to start imposing a couple of days in jail – and the statutes found in the SCCOLs allows such. Meanwhile, nothing will change … not even raising fines. But you want to make a difference? Then start jailing drivers for running stop signs and for speeding.
And South Carolina still has no ban on texting while driving or driving while talking on a cell phone. As someone who has been wrecked THREE TIMES by a young girl texting while driving, I know the reason why SC drivers are the worst. They run red lights, they change lanes right into you, and they make left turns in front of you and when they get out of their car they are STILL texting or talking on the phone.