These Brands Have the Worst Drivers, New U.S. Study Shows
Accidents, DUIs, speeding and citations make for some bad drivers, but which ones are the worst? A new study conducted in the U.S. by LendingTree, which specializes in auto loans and insurance, provides the answer.
After analyzing 30 car brands based on insurance inquiries from January to December 2024, it found out that Tesla leads the way with 36.94 reported incidents per 1,000 drivers—up 16 percent from the previous year.
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Tesla moved up ahead of Ram, which fell to second place, followed by Subaru. These other two brands have 33.92 and 32.85 reported incidents per 1,000 drivers, respectively.
LendingTree’s study is solely based on generalized insurance inquiry data, mind you, and doesn’t take into account the specific circumstances or technologies involved in each incident.
Back to Tesla. Part of the problem comes from the fact that its Autopilot system with available “Full Self-Driving” capability is not only far from flawless but also misleading, prompting many drivers to shift their attention away from the road and rely on the technology too much.
Unfortunately, some of the multiple accidents that have resulted from these actions have led to casualties. And yet, instead of working to fix that, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is calling for the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to drop the crash reporting requirements for automated systems. Go figure.
Another U.S. study, this one published last November by iSeeCars.com, showed that Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate per billion vehicle miles (5.6) of all car brands, followed by Kia (5.5), Buick (4.8), Dodge (4.4) and Hyundai (3.9). These fatal accident rates reflect driver behaviour as much if not more than vehicle design and technology.
Two months earlier, an investigation by the U.S. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab revealed that drivers are more likely to multitask when using semi-autonomous driving systems, and some manage to do so even while playing by the rules of the systems’ attention requirements. A 2020 Tesla Model 3 with Autopilot happened to be part of the tests.