My wife thinks I'm obsessed.  It seems like every day I'm telling her a story about what some stupid driver did while on my way to or from work.  She says, "Drivers are bad everywhere."  I say, "That may be true, but they're worse in Louisiana."

There are a number of factors I've observed while driving on our rutted and pot-holed streets and highways.  Here are a few:

  1. Drivers don't use blinkers when changing lanes.  They just pull right in front of you without warning, sometimes moving across two or three lanes at a time.
  2. Drivers have no regard for speed limits--it's pedal to the metal at all times.
  3. Drivers can't stand to get caught by a red light.  Yellow means "speed up."
  4. Drivers have never heard of hydroplaning.  Rain is just something you wipe off your windshield, but has no affect on your tires' grip on the road.  So, why slow down?

Well, today, there is some vindication for my seeming obsession.  Today the Louisiana Radio Network released some findings from a recent report published by SmartAsset, a personal finance technology company.  The study looked at a number of driving-related factors including vehicle fatalities, insurance rates, and speeding data.  What SmartAssest discovered is telling.

  • Louisiana is ranked 6th in the nation in the number of fatalities per 100 million miles driven.
  • Louisiana is the 16th lowest-insured state, with only 86% of drivers having car insurance.
  • Louisiana ranks #1 in Google searches for speeding tickets.  Prior research has found that when people do that, they're looking for information on tickets they've been issued when stopped for speeding.  (Although I've never seen anyone stopped in Shreveport/Bossier for that offense.)

From data compiled in the study, overall Louisiana ranks 3rd in the nation for bad drivers. The only states with worse drivers are Florida and Mississippi.

As all of us husbands know, we rarely get a chance to say, "I told you so!".  At least we don't if we want to stay married for long.  But this may be one opportunity I can't resist. Come to think of it, I may even silently thank the driver who's inevitably going to pull in front of me without turning on his blinker while I'm on my way into work today.

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