Yes, Forbes just ranked a Kentucky city among top 10 in the US for the worst drivers
A recent analysis from Forbes ranks Louisville among the top 25 cities for bad drivers, with the city performing worse than much larger places, such as Phoenix, Ariz., and Fort Worth, Texas.
Using data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Forbes ranked 50 of the country’s most populous cities based on the rate of fatal crashes, the number of car accidents involving distracted driving or speeding and other factors.
Louisville ranked among the top 10 on Forbes’ list, which was published Feb. 8, with the business magazine writing, “Louisville isn’t just home to the Kentucky Derby—it’s also home to some of the worst drivers in America.”
Here’s what Forbes had to say about the Derby City, including why it earned the ranking it got.
Louisville ranks seventh among top 10 cities with worst drivers
Among its list of the top 25 cities with the worst drivers, Louisville ranked No. 7, scoring 83.88 out of 100 in the Forbes analysis. That’s worse than Phoenix, Ariz., (80.65) and Fort Worth, Texas, (78.03), but better than Dallas (90.97) and Kansas City, Mo. (91.19).
Because the analysis focused on the 50 most populous U.S. cities, Louisville was the only Kentucky city included by Forbes.
Notably for Louisville, the city ranked the fifth highest for the number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver at 1.47 per 100,000 city residents.
Louisville also had the ninth highest total number of fatal car accidents at 14.25 per 100,000 city residents. The city also ranked the tenth highest for the number of people killed in fatal crashes (14.99 per 100,000), according to the Forbes analysis.
Forbes compared the 50 most populated cities across the country using five factors. Each factor was assigned the following weight for the analysis:
Number of fatal car accidents per 100,000 city residents: 24% of overall score
Number of fatal car accidents involving a drunk driver per 100,000 city residents: 19% of overall score
Number of fatal car accidents involving a distracted driver per 100,000 city residents: 19% of overall score
Number of fatal car accidents involving speeding per 100,000 city residents: 19% of score
Number of people killed in fatal crashes per 100,000 city residents: 19% of score
For each factor, Forbes said it used five-year averages between 2017 and 2021. Data was taken from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Fatality and Injury Reporting System. City population data was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau using 2022 figures.
Forbes’ top 10 cities with the worst drivers
According to Forbes, the following are the top 10 cities with the worst drivers:
Albuquerque, N.M.
Memphis, Tenn.
Detroit, Mich.
Tucson, Ariz.
Kansas City, Mo.
Dallas, Texas
Louisville, Ky.
Phoenix, Ariz.
Fort Worth, Texas
Tampa, Fla.
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This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 7:00 AM.