RAM, Tesla, Subaru, and BMW Drivers Are the Worst in the United States, Study Shows

10 months, 2 weeks ago - 3 January 2024, autoevolution

You know how some drivers are judged by association with the vehicle they're driving, like a reverse form of "Don't judge a book by its cover?" Well, preconceived notions or judgy stereotypes aside, it appears that sometimes, it pays off to keep an extra eye on specific cars in traffic near you, just to be on the safe side.

According to an insurance analysis by LendingTree performed between November 14, 2022, and November 14, 2023, some mighty exciting data has been revealed. Some might surprise you, and some may not. Now, let's get to the good part and see which is which.

The top 10 car brands with the most driving incidents per 1,000 drivers are:

#10 Toyota
#9 Hyundai
#8 Infiniti
#7 Lexus
#6 BMW
#5 Mazda
#4 Volkswagen
#3 Subaru
#2 Tesla
#1 RAM

Yes, folks, if your hard-earned money was on RAM, you've won the bet. The car brand has the worst documented drivers in the US, with 32.90 incidents like accidents, DUIs, speeding, and citations per 1,000 drivers. That's not all, though. Out of the states analyzed, it turns out that RAM came out worst in 23 states, with Massachusetts as the most significant hotspot, with 64.44 incidents per 1,000 drivers. In what pertains to accidents alone, RAM comes in at No. 2, with a 22.76 ratio.

Tesla drivers are in the second worst overall category, with a 31.13 rating. At the same time, autopilot or not, they're at the top of the list with the most accidents, with a ratio of 23.54 out of 1,000 drivers.

In the third place, we have Subaru, with 30.09. These three are the only ones with incidents over a 30.00 rating. Accident-wise, Subaru is in third place, with a score of 20.90.

On the opposite accident-related spectrum, it turns out that the safest drivers from the study are behind the wheels of car brands like Pontiac - 8.41, Mercury - 8.96, and Saturn - 9.13. What they have in common is that they're the only ones with a score under 10.00. Kudos to them!

Overall incident-wise, however, Mercury drivers had a 15.82 incident rating nationally, meaning less than half of RAM drivers. Pontiac followed soon after with 16.24 incidents, and Saturn had 16.84 incidents per 1,000 people behind the wheel.

As for the most DUIs, you've probably guessed it by now: the BMW drivers, and as it turns out, by quite a margin. "Beamers" had a DUI rating of 3.13 per 1,000, almost twice compared to RAM at 1.72. Opposite BMW, we have Mitsubishi (0.89), Volvo (0.92), and Mercury and Kia drivers (both 0.93) with the lowest DUI rating. A congratulatory "hurrah!" is in order for these conscientious people who didn't drink and drive.

We're all well aware of what being a bad driver can lead to. But not to get too dramatic, the most immediate and non-life-threatening consequences are that these people could have higher insurance premiums, a "personalized" collection of tickets and fines that will most certainly put a dent in their bank accounts, and, of course, it can lead to a driver's license suspension or worse.