In The News
Utah prettiest, best place to drive while California worst says new analysis
Truckers already know where the most beautiful scenery is in the U.S. and now a new analysis by Carinsurance.com has come up with their ideas of best and worst places for a driving experience.
If you're driving in New Jersey, they recommend taking along some Advil because of the teeth-jarring potholes. Utah, on the other hand gets kudos for not only beautiful scenery but good driving conditions.
In fact, Utah earned the No. 1 spot to experience on the road and Minnesota came in at No. 2, also for beautiful surroundings and optimum driving conditions.
California, the "Golden State," didn't come in so golden; it came in last for "poor or mediocre roads," the most expensive gas and diesel in the country and the worst traffic delays. The study said all these negatives detract from the scenery.
"States with high scores for favorable road conditions as well as cheap vehicle insurance, fuel and repair costs top the list," said Michelle Megna, managing editor of CarInsurance.com. The winners also had fewer traffic fatalities and shorter commuter delays.
For example, 2 percent of the median household income in Utah goes to vehicle insurance while in California, it's 4 percent.
A quarter of Utah's roads are considered to be in bad shape while 68 percent of California's roads get low marks as poor and mediocre, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
California ($586), was second only to New Jersey ($601) for the cost per motorist for road repairs, the analysis reported.
Utah ($187) was among the least expensive states for motorists' road repairs.
Coming in third best after Utah and Minnesota was New Hampshire, followed by Virginia, fourth, and Vermont at fifth.
The worst states for driving besides California were Oklahoma, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Mississippi.
Connecticut and Illinois were said to have the highest percentage of roads in bad shape, each with 73 percent, followed by Wisconsin with 71 percent. Indiana (17 percent) and Georgia (19 percent) have the least, according to DOT figures.
As indicated earlier, California had the longest commuter delays in hours per year at 80 hours, followed by Wyoming with 11 hours, according to an "Urban Mobility Scorecard" report by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
Each state was scored on the following factors:
- Percent of median household income that goes to vehicle insurance
- Estimated percent of uninsured drivers
- Annual traffic deaths per 100,000 population
- Percent of roads in poor and mediocre condition
- Percent of bridges that are structurally deficient
- Estimated extra cost of car repair from driving on bad roads
- Average price of a gallon of fuel
- Yearly delay, in hours, per vehicle commute in state's most congested city, and
- Number of federally designated "byways" (part of the 150 distinct and diverse collection of roads designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation that includes the National Scenic byways and All-American Roads), used as a tie-breaker.
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