When you’re behind the wheel, do you ever consider how your driving stacks up compared to others in your state — or how safe you feel around the other drivers on the road? A recent survey by The Zebra sheds light on this question by measuring driver behaviour across 27 U.S. states, evaluating both good habits and aggressive or unsafe actions.
Using this data provides an interesting lens through which to explore road safety, driving culture and the risks we face simply by sharing the road. Below, we unpack the study’s methodology, highlight the top and bottom states, explore the behaviours behind the rankings, and offer takeaways for any driver.
How the Survey Was Conducted
Understanding how the results were derived is key to interpreting them correctly. The Zebra’s methodology for the study included:
- Asking drivers in the eligible states how often they engage in safe driving behaviours (like buckling up, obeying signals, yielding to pedestrians or cyclists, coming to a full stop at stop signs).
- Asking how often they witnessed other drivers engaging in poor behaviours (changing lanes without signalling, tail-gating, weaving through traffic, driving distracted).
- Asking how many of those poor behaviours they themselves admitted to doing.
The states included in the ranking were limited to those with sufficient survey responses: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
In short: the ranking combines good behaviour, witnessed bad behaviour, and self-admitted bad behaviour.
Top 5 States with the Best Drivers
According to the data, these are the states whose residents report the best combination of safe driving practices and fewer aggressive habits.
1. Tennessee
Tennessee takes the top spot. The state ranked very highly in safe driving behaviour and reported one of the lowest rates of self-admitted aggressive driving. The most often witnessed poor behaviour was distracted driving.
2. Oregon
Oregon comes in second. While its ranking for safe driving was slightly lower than Tennessee, its drivers admitted to very few aggressive behaviours and were less likely to engage in them. The most common observed poor habit was changing lanes without signalling.
3. (tie) Arizona & Florida
Arizona and Florida share the third spot.
- Arizona ranked second in safe driving behaviour and reported low levels of both witnessed and self‐admitted aggressive driving. The most observed habit was tailgating; the most admitted was honking in anger.
- Florida, while slightly lower on safe driving adherence, still involved fewer self-admitted aggressive acts compared to many states. Notably, 52% of Florida drivers admitted to sometimes driving badly (most commonly honking in anger)—suggesting greater self-awareness rather than simply worse driving.
5. Washington
Washington fills out the top five. Drivers in Washington reported the highest percentage of safe driving behaviours among the states considered and low levels of self-admitted bad driving. Although they reported seeing aggressive driving from others at higher rates than most, they themselves admitted fewer such actions.
Why this matters: These states illustrate that self-reported good behaviour, combined with low self-admission of bad habits, correlate with a safer driving culture as perceived by residents. For communities and policymakers, this suggests that promoting safe habits may have tangible outcomes.
Bottom 5 States with the Worst Drivers
Now to the states that ranked lowest in the study—those where unsafe or aggressive driver habits were most prominent.
1. Colorado
Colorado ranks as the worst performing state. While the rate of witnessed aggressive driving was roughly average, a striking 69% of Colorado drivers admitted to committing poor driving behaviours. The most frequently observed poor habit: tail-gating.
2. Missouri
Missouri comes next. Although its adherence to safe driving was slightly better than Colorado, an alarmingly high 72% of Missouri drivers admitted to bad driving habits—the highest self-admitted rate in the survey. The most commonly admitted behaviour: honking in anger.
3. Texas
Texas ranks third worst. Texas drivers were more likely to witness other drivers changing lanes without signalling and over half of them admitted to engaging in poor driving behaviours themselves, again most often honking in anger.
4. Louisiana
Louisiana appears fourth. What’s interesting is that although self-reporting of safe driving behaviours was the worst in the states studied, Louisianans reported relatively low levels of self-admitted aggressive behaviour and observed fewer bad driving behaviours than many other states. In other words: drivers may do less good and yet not report much aggression.
5. Oklahoma
Oklahoma rounds out the worst five. Drivers there report only slightly higher safe-driving adherence than Louisiana, and average levels of aggressive driving behaviour—both self‐admitted and witnessed. The most frequently admitted behaviour: distracted driving. The most observed: changing lanes without signalling.
Why this matters: High self‐admission of poor behaviours and significant witnessing of aggressive driving are red flags. These states may benefit from stronger driving education, stronger enforcement of traffic laws, and public campaigns focused on driver attitude.
What Specific Behaviours Drove the Rankings
Beyond ranking states, the survey identified specific driving behaviours that were most common. Some key takeaways:
- Distracted driving (such as using a phone) was frequently cited both as something people witnessed and something they admitted doing in multiple states.
- Changing lanes without signalling was a commonly observed bad behaviour—especially in Oregon and Texas.
- Tail-gating (driving too close to the vehicle ahead) was specifically flagged for states like Colorado and Arizona.
- Honking in anger or aggressive horn use was prominently self-admitted in Missouri, Florida and Texas.
One especially revealing statistic: in Florida, 52% of drivers admitted to “sometimes driving badly” — which may indicate either a frank admission or increased self-awareness rather than worse driving per se.
Conclusion
The Zebra’s survey offers a revealing snapshot of how drivers across the U.S. perceive their own behaviour and that of others. States like Tennessee, Oregon, Arizona, Florida and Washington emerge as those with the “best behaved” drivers according to self-reporting metrics, while Colorado, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma sit at the other end of the spectrum for poorer behaviours.
But beyond the rankings, the real takeaway is this: safe driving is a mix of your own habits and your awareness of the environment around you. No matter where you live, you can take positive steps to ensure your driving is safe and responsible—and be part of the solution rather than adding to the problem.
For a journalist or content creator focusing on driving culture and road safety (as you are), this data gives a jumpingoff point for deeper exploration: what local policies or driver‐education initiatives are underway in the “worst” states? What can best-practice states teach the rest? How do road design, enforcement, infrastructure and driver demographics factor in?
If you like, I can pull in additional data sets (e.g., fatalities per mile, distracted‐driving rates by state, enforcement statistics) to deepen the article further and bolster regional comparisons. Would you like me to do that?
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