MA Ranked as 19th Strictest State on High Risk Drivers

Thursday, August 25, 2016
GoLocalWorcester News Team

Massachusetts is ranked as the 19th strictest state in the U.S. on high risk drivers, according to a recent study done by WalletHub. 

"The average American spends more than 18 hours in an automobile each week, which equates to over 17 percent of his or her waking hours, according to data from Nielsen and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That alone spells risk not only because the odds of an accident increase with the number of miles we drive, but also because the more time-crunched we are, the more likely we are to attempt multitasking or otherwise drive recklessly," said WalletHub. 

Massachusetts is ranked 12th in DUI criminal penalties, 43nd DUI prevention, 32nd in speeding enforcement and 2nd in reckless driving penalties and 32nd in average increase in cost of insurance. 

The Rankings 

Massachusetts is ranked 19 behind Louisiana and Arkansas at 17 and 18 respectively, while ranking in front of Alabama and California, who are both in a tie for 20th. 

Arizona is ranked as the strictest state in the country for high risk drivers, while South Dakota is ranked as the most lenient state. 

For More on rankings, see the map below. 

The Method 

In order to measure the strictness of states' laws for high-risk drivers, WalletHub independently assessed how tough states are on DUI, speeding and reckless driving as well as the insurance costs for different types of high risk driving. 

To get an overall impression of each state's treatment of risky drivers, WalletHub combined the results of these three reports to obtain a final ranking for each state, according to the below rubric. The highest scores correlate to the strictest states. 

DUI Criminal Penalties
States could score up to 35 points if they met the correct criteria

DUI Prevention
States could score up to 20 points if they met the correct criteria

Speeding Enforcement
States could score up to 14 points if they met the correct criteria

Reckless Driving Penalties
States could score up to 16 points if they met the correct criteria

Average Increase in Cost of Insurance
Because “Average Increase in Cost of Insurance” was included in the methodologies of the DUI and speeding & reckless driving, we’ve only accounted for the average premium increase for the following scenarios: Reckless driving conviction, 2 accidents in the last 2 years and Driving with a suspended license
Above 75% (6 points)
60% – 74.99% (4 points)
45% - 59.99% (2 points)
30% - 44.99% (1 point)
Below 30% (0 points)