National Traffic Awareness Month: Here’s what states have the worst roads
Tales of traffic
It’s Traffic Awareness Month, so here’s what’s on our roads.
Holding on to older cars
According to J.D. Power, the average U.S. new vehicle selling price was just over $45,000 in April. Prices are down more than $2,000 from the peak in December 2022.
Americans are holding on to their cars longer than ever, mostly because of high prices.
S&P Global Mobility reports the average age of an American vehicle is a record high of 12.6 years old, which is three months more than last year.
EV market
In 2022, there were about 2.4 million electric vehicles registered in the U.S. with about 37% of those in California.
Over 660,000 EVs were sold during the first six months of 2023, which represents a year-over-year increase of 57%. By September 2023, over a million EVs had been sold, a record milestone in the EV market.
EV sales made up about 11% of the total light-duty vehicle sales in the U.S. in September 2023, up from just under 8% in 2021. Currently, there are 103 models of electric vehicles for sale in the U.S., ranging from passenger cars to commercial vans.
You can see what states have the most EV registration at the Department of Energy site here.
On the roads
A recent survey by personal injury law firm John Foy & Associates analyzed data from all 50 states, evaluating them based on five crucial factors to determine which states have the best and worst roads in America:
Road fatalities
Rural road conditions
Urban road conditions
Highway spending per mile
Highway spending per capita
States with the worst roads in the U.S.
Rank | State | Final Score
1. New Mexico | 50
2. Louisiana | 51.4
3. Mississippi | 53.8
4. California | 55.9
5. Arizona | 57.2
6. South Carolina | 59.8
7. Colorado | 59.8
8. Rhode Island | 60.5
9. Oklahoma | 60.9
10. Arkansas | 61.1
New Mexico: New Mexico is the worst state for roads. A high fatality rate (1.74 deaths per 100 million miles), 15.11% of rural roads in poor condition and 22.78% of urban roads in poor condition contribute to its ranking.
California: Despite high infrastructure spending of $127,080 per mile (7th highest), California ranks as the fourth-worst, with 8.37% of its vast network of rural roads in poor condition.
The best: Minnesota takes the top spot for road quality with a score of 80, followed by Delaware (76.6), Utah (76.2), Indiana (76.2), and New Jersey (75).
You can find the whole ranking list here.
Road rage
Another recent survey by H&P Law analyzed data from all 50 states on six key factors, including firearm incidents, aggressive driving accidents and speeding violations, to determine which states have the most and least road rage.
The worst:
Louisiana
New Mexico
Montana
You can find the whole list here.
Fatal crashes
On average in 2022, fatal car crashes were more frequent on weekends, peaking on Saturday. The number of nonfatal crashes tended to be higher on weekdays, peaking on Friday.
For both fatal and nonfatal crashes, the peak time of day was 4 p.m. to 7:59 p.m., but peak crash periods vary substantially over the span of a year.
Fatal crash chartDeadliest month and day, 2022
October had the most fatal crashes in 2022 barely beating September and August. The deadliest day was Sept. 17 with 188 fatal crashes. There were 46,027 fatal crashes in 2022. The average deaths per month was 3,836.
There were 5.2 million medically consulted injuries.
Most popular car by state, 2024
According to Edmunds, an online source for automotive information, the most popular vehicle in the United States by far is the Ford F-150. The pickup has held that title for more than 40 years. In thirty states, the Ford F-Series trucks are the most popular vehicle.
The runner-ups in popularity in 2021 are the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500/2500/3500 pickups. Chevy seems to have a solid hold over the Midwest, while Ram has the market in both eastern and western states.
As for cars and SUVs, the Toyota RAV4 went through a bit of a makeover recently, and it seems to be working in the brand’s favor as they are the 4th most popular model in the U.S. The Honda CR-V is the 5th most popular model. Both of these brands are heavily preferred all along the coasts.
Trucks are the most popular vehicle type, with 170.2 million registrations in 2022, compared to 98.5 million vehicle registrations for cars.
At 91.7%, households had at least one vehicle in 2022. Only 8.3% of households did not have a vehicle.
Sources: U.S. Department of Transportation, Edmunds, Federal highway Administration, National Safety Council, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Consumer Affairs, Alternative Fuels Data Center, John Foy & Associates