The Motor City. The Auto Capital of the United States. The home of the Big Three. And, apparently, one of the worst cities for drivers in the country.
Two weeks ago, the MT reported that Detroit drivers were ranked as the best in the country according to a study in which incident data from DUIs, accidents, speeding tickets, and other citations was examined.
However, it appears that residents’ safe driving practices don’t help create a driver-friendly city. A recent WalletHub study ranked Detroit proper as the third worst city for drivers out of the 100 largest cities in the United states. Results were based on 25 relevant metrics that measured traffic and infrastructure, cost of car ownership and maintenance, safety, and access to vehicles.
Here’s how Detroit stacked up in every category (figures are out of 100):
Cost of ownership and maintenance: 89
Traffic and infrastructure: 91
Safety: 94
Access to Vehicles and Maintenance: 32
At least the Motor City stays true to it’s name when it comes to accessing cars. But in every other category, Detroit trails behind the rest of the county.
The low scores could be due to a variety of hazards for Detroit drivers, like the excess of potholes, frequency of carjackings, or the sky high car insurance rates— the highest in the nation— that exponentially increase with every traffic incident.
Maybe that’s why the city caught a break on the safety ranking.
