As a personal injury lawyer, I often hear about Oregon's worst drivers. Oregon's drivers can do some incredibly dumb things that often result in injuring others. A recent survey from SmartAsset (a tech/finance company) has ranked the States' drivers from best to worst. Oregon ranks number 26 on the list. The optimist in me says that we are lucky to live in Oregon, because there are 24 States that have more terrible driving habits than Oregonians. However, the reality isn't so rosy. Oregonians have serious room for improvement, to drive safer and reduce traffic caused fatalities and injuries. The survey also noted some interesting facts about Oregon Drivers:
1) Only 83.3% of Oregon drivers have insurance. All vehicles are required by law to be covered by insurance, so this is a troubling statistic. This is why it is imperative to have sufficient uninsured ("UM") motorist coverage on your auto insurance policy. The State minimum $25,000.00 is likely not enough to cover you if you are in a crash. Click here to learn three things you should know about Oregon's Auto insurance.
2) For every 1,000 drivers in Oregon 3.16 of them will be arrested for DUII (Driving While Under the Influence of Intoxicants). This is also a troubling statistic because this is for DUI arrest, not the actual number of DUII drivers. This statistic is not surprising to me because I regularly represent people that were injured by DUII Drivers. In case you were curious, North and South Dakota both top the charts for DUII arrest with over 11 DUII arrests for every 1,000 drivers.
CAUTION THE LANGUAGE IN THE VIDEO MAY BE OFFENSIVE and IS NOT ENDORSED BY ROSS LAW
3) 1.3 people will die in Oregon Roads for every million vehicle miles traveled. To put it another way, 2 people will die on Oregon Roads after all of the vehicles in Oregon travel a combined 3 million miles. These wrongful deaths become more frequent as more people move to Oregon and more people drive in Oregon. As of May 2018, 17 people had died in traffic crashes. Things are not looking better for the remainder of the year. For example, last week a motorcyclist was killed near the St. Johns Bridge. Almost all of these wrongful deaths are completely preventable if drivers simply obey the rules of the road. or the
If you were wondering where the worst drivers are, well here it is. According to Smartasset the states with the worst drivers are:
1) Mississippi
2) Tennessee
3) California
3) Missouri (Tied with California)
5) New Mexico
5) Texas (Tied with New Mexico)
7) Alabama
8) Florida
9) Alaska
10) Arizona (Tied with Alaska)
Click here to read more about the survey and the methodology they used. Remember if you or someone you know where in an Oregon car crash call Portland Personal Injury Attorney Jeremiah Ross at 503.224.1658. Ross Law PDX provides free case evaluations for wrongful death and personal injury matters. Jeremiah Ross also represents people in disputes with their insurance company in uninsured motorist claims, underinsured motorist claims, and personal injury protection benefits claims. Please note that Jeremiah Ross, and Ross Law PDX, do not have any affiliation with Smartasset, nor have they confirmed any of the statements or statistics are accurate.