Driving Stereotypes For Each Region

No matter where you’re driving, you’re going to come behind someone who doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing. This kind of motorist brakes driving uphill and doesn’t go faster than 50 m.p.h. on the freeway. They don’t use their turn signals, and they almost always park over the line.

Unfortunately, these bad driving behaviors begin to develop into stereotypes, especially when these behaviors seem to occur in the same spots around the country year in and year out. If you’re going to be doing a lot of travelling in this new year and want to save yourself an auto insurance headache after getting hit by a bad driver in the Northeast, Midwest, South or West, get an auto insurance quote comparison when you check out CoverHound.

Can You Depend on a Stereotype?

According to Voice of America (VOA News), Americans have labeled the Northeast, Midwest, South and West with the following adjectives:

The Northeast: Impatient, Rude, Aggressive

The Midwest: Polite, Kind, Conscientious

The South: Polite, Kind, Easy-going

The West: Imaginative, Experimental, Enthusiastic

Now, depending on where you’re from, this can be taken as a compliment or an insult, especially if you live in the Northeast. This article is going to look at four states (one from each region) to discuss its driving stereotype and see if it fits with how the public has labeled its region at large.

The North East: New York

In 2014, there were over 1,000 vehicle accident-related deaths in New York. Though the number of traffic deaths has fallen in recent years, traffic-safety groups have called on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero to make a more aggressive effort. The five most common traffic accidents in New York are:

Drunk Driving

Distracted Driving

Ignoring Road Signage

Operator Error

Aggressive Driving

Aggressive keeps popping up as a word to describe New York. Motorists are taught to be defensive drivers, but that is sometimes confused for being aggressive. Tailgating and horn honking are synonymous behaviors with New York residents, particularly of those driving in the city. In this case, aggression is more than a stereotype, it is a driving behavior the state is working to curtail.

The Midwest: Ohio

Ohio saw over 300,000 traffic accidents in 2015, with over 75,000 resulting in injury and another 1,000 in death. The four most common car accidents in Ohio are:

Head-on Collision

Rollover Accident

Rear-end Accident

Hit-and-Run Accident

The reasons like the accidents above occur are because motorists are driving over the speed limit, ignoring traffic signals and braking too slow. Despite the Midwest being known for kindness, hit-and-run collisions would say otherwise.

The South: Alabama

According to Drive Safe Alabama, the average Alabama motorist has a greater than one-in-three chance of being involved in traffic collision resulting in injury or death. Alabama’s three most common accidents include:

Speeding

Drunk Driving

Distracted Driving

It doesn’t matter how nice or welcoming a state is. Questionable and unsafe driving behavior is found everywhere, even in the friendly South.

The West: California

Lane splitting, speeding, you name it—California drivers have done it. Known for going 80 m.p.h. on the freeway and rolling through stop signs, the sunshine state has had its share of roadside accidents. California sees close to 3,000 vehicle-related deaths a year. California’s four most common vehicle accidents include:

Speeding

Distracted Driving

DUI

Ignoring Traffic laws

When you compare the list of common accident types, you’ll see that each state has the same or similar collision history.

The point of this article is to show that bad drivers are everywhere. Stereotypes don’t count for much in a car accident. What matters is your reaction time and auto insurance. Get an auto insurance quote comparison with CoverHound today.