The Hoosier State is more than just a basketball state. It’s home to one of the most iconic racing events in the world, the Indy 500. Indianapolis Motor Speedway attracts the top IndyCar and NASCAR drivers in the world. With all the talented drivers coming to Indiana, you’d wonder how talented the drivers are in the state of Indiana.
According to QuoteWizard’s annual best and worst driver study, Indiana typically ranks among the better driving states in the county. In 2018 Indiana ranked 19th best driving state. Indianapolis also ranks among the best driving cities in the county, coming in at 21st best driving city in 2018. Indiana drivers as a whole, are on the better side of the spectrum. But, where do the best and worst drivers in the state reside?
To determine overall driver quality in Indiana, we ranked the 50 largest cities in the state. We analyzed over 83,000 insurance quotes from Indiana drivers using QuoteWizard.com and ranked cities by the highest rate of incidents. Incidents include accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations.
Worst Driving Cities in Indiana
| Rank (worst) | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | Granger |
| 2 | Schererville |
| 3 | Westfield |
| 4 | Noblesville |
| 5 | Lafayette |
| 6 | Greenwood |
| 7 | Lawrence |
| 8 | Carmel |
| 9 | Valparaiso |
| 10 | Fishers |
| 11 | Muncie |
| 12 | Crown Point |
| 13 | Munster |
| 14 | Fort Wayne |
| 15 | Evansville |
| 16 | Columbus |
| 17 | West Lafayette |
| 18 | Goshen |
| 19 | Brownsburg |
| 20 | Greenfield |
| 21 | Indianapolis |
| 22 | Bloomington |
| 23 | Merrillville |
| 24 | Plainfield |
| 25 | Hobart |
Granger
Sitting right on the border to Michigan, Granger takes the top spot as Indiana’s worst driving city. There’s plenty of high traffic highways going through town to warrant a high rate of incidents. I-90 brings a heavy dose of traffic from Chicagoland area and Gary. Busy highways in town is only part of the equation. Granger residents are still responsible for their driving habits and those habits are lacking compared to fellow Hoosier state cities. St. Joseph county had 9.98 road fatalities per 100,000 people in 2017.
Schererville
Another Indiana city that’s likely to have traveling Chicago traffic is Schererville, home to the second worst drivers in the state. A higher rate of traffic from Chicago and Gary puts residents at higher risk for incidents on the roads of Schererville. Still, residents of Schererville could improve on their safe driving habits to avoid a high ranking in the coming years. Lake county was responsible for 10.50 fatalities per 100,000 in 2017.
Westfield
A suburb of Indianapolis, Westfield shares the suburban risks similar to Granger and Schererville. Traffic from the big city heading out of town puts residents of suburban cities like Westfield at risk for more incidents on the road. Like their bad driving counterparts Granger and Schererville, there’s not much else to excuse their poor driving ranks. Westfield does reside in Hamilton county witch had 3.09 road fatalities per 100,000. Making Hamilton county one of the lowest rates among Indiana counties.
Best driving cities in Indiana
| Rank (worst) | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | Zionsville |
| 2 | Clarksville |
| 3 | East Chicago |
| 4 | New Albany |
| 5 | Gary |
| 6 | Marion |
| 7 | Michigan City |
| 8 | Richmond |
| 9 | Portage |
| 10 | Jeffersonville |
| 11 | Logansport |
| 12 | Seymour |
| 13 | Kokomo |
| 14 | Terre Haute |
| 15 | Hammond |
| 16 | South Bend |
| 17 | New Castle |
| 18 | Mishawaka |
| 19 | Elkhart |
| 20 | Vincennes |
| 21 | Shelbyville |
| 22 | Franklin |
| 23 | Anderson |
| 24 | La Porte |
| 25 | Highland |
Zionsville
Only a few miles south west of bad driving city Westfield, is the best driving city in the state Zionsville. As previously mentioned, suburban cities with big city traffic heading out of town can create a higher risk for incidents. Zionsville drivers buck that trend with the lowest rate of incidents in the state. Goes to show the difference in driver quality between a couple suburbs outside of Indianapolis. Boone county accounted for 10.63 road fatalities per 100,000 in 2017.
Clarksville
Heading north from Louisville on the Clark Memorial Bridge, the first city you’ll hit in Indiana is one of it’s best driving cities. Clarksville drivers do experience high levels of traffic with I-65 and I-265 passing through town. But, Clarksville drivers despite the traffic remain among the best drivers in the state. Clark county had 12.82 road fatalities per 100,000 people in 2017.
East Chicago
We saw Granger and Schererville be subject to Chicagoland traffic, but East Chicago would appear to buck that trend. The same I-90 Granger struggles with, East Chicago gets direct from Chicago to Gary. Tip of the hat to East Chicago drivers for keeping safe from commuters.
Methodology
The QuoteWizard research team evaluated driver quality from the 50 largest cities in Indiana by population. We analyzed 2018 data of over 83,000 insurance quotes from Indiana drivers using QuoteWizard to find the rate of overall incidents in each city. Incidents include accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations.
References:
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