FARGO — North Dakota has a new No. 1 ranking among states. It's bad drivers.

A study by insurance-comparison shopping website Insurify reports almost 30 percent of motorists among the 243,338 registered vehicles in the state have reported a past driving incident such as speeding, failure to stop or an accident in the past seven years.

The study by Insurify data analysts also said North Dakota had the second-most repeat DUIs and leads the country in repeat license suspensions, helping lead to the No. 1 ranking of bad drivers. Drivers in Minnesota and South Dakota were ranked 25th- and 24th-worst, respectively.

Additionally, the study said more than 16 percent of North Dakota drivers reported a speeding ticket on their record.

But not so fast, said Fargo Deputy Police Chief Todd Osmundson.

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"Overall, I think we have courteous, good drivers, in my opinion," he said of North Dakota. "I'd take that ranking with a grain of salt. You can say anything with statistics."

He cites many reasons why he thinks North Dakota may have some of the higher rankings in certain statistical categories.

For one, he said perhaps the state has higher enforcement of traffic laws, which boosts the ranking. He suggested taking a look at New Jersey or New York, where police are probably more focused on felony crimes such as car thefts and murders than someone driving fast down a city street.

He also said North Dakota awards many grants to fund extra traffic enforcement for things like texting while driving and DUIs.

"In my 30 years in law enforcement with the Fargo PD, the No. 1 complaint is traffic," he said about why police here write more tickets. "It's not gangs, drugs or homicides here, which may be the case for other jurisdictions across the nation."

As for the high number of repeat DUIs and repeat license suspensions, he said the state's culture of drinking and its rural nature are probably big reasons why.

"DUI arrests are very unfortunate," Osmundson. "They are fully avoidable."

However, unlike places such as New Jersey or even Fargo, for example, rural areas don't have the abundance of public transportation or ride-sharing options like Uber, Lyft and taxis that drinkers can take home.

The deputy chief understands why people may want to have a few drinks while watching a ballgame or a concert, but he thinks there needs to be more education about setting limits and finding ways to get around without driving drunk.

He also suspects more people speed in North Dakota because of the low fines, if caught.

Osmundson rhetorically asked, for example: If a person was driving from Medora, N.D., to Milwaukee, where would they make up time? North Dakota, with some speeding tickets as low as $10 to $20, where in Minnesota and Wisconsin the fines are much, much higher.

The North Dakota Legislature has been working on raising some fines. Gov. Doug Burgum just signed a bill raising the fines for running stop and yield signs from $20 to $40. The original bill had called for a $100 fine. However, the House last month rejected a separate proposal raising fines for speeding, improperly passing a stopped school bus, violating child restraint regulations and other traffic laws.

Osmundson said higher fines can change behaviors. He noted Insurify rated Arizona as the eighth-safest state to drive, and one reason might be they have the strictest DUI laws in the nation. On a first offense, the person must spend at least a day in jail with a fine and fee that can go up to $2,500. "That's certainly a deterrent, in my opinion," he said.

Traffic-death data played into the Insurify rankings as well.

Although not nearly close to the top, North Dakota did have an above-average traffic death rate of 15. 2 per 100,000 residents.

Osmundson said the rate is "very tragic." But once again he blames the rural nature of the state with its many two-lane roads. On top of that are sometimes icy road conditions and drunk driving.

A look at Fargo's stats:

In statistics provided by the Fargo Police Department, year-end figures from 2017 and 2018 show there was high enforcement and that the state's largest city followed some of the state stats.

For example, there were 1,853 driving-after-suspension or revocation tickets in 2017 and another 1,631 in 2018, one of the leading traffic violations. The number is climbing, too, in the past five years as there were only 1,062 in 2013.

The top violation in Fargo was for speeding, with 2,752 tickets in 2017 and 2,227 last year.

DUIs and accidents have been staying about the same in recent years. DUIs in 2017 were 684 and there were 665 last year. Accidents totaled 4,092 in 2017 and 4,281 last year.

There were three traffic deaths in the city in 2017 and four last year, but Fargo Deputy Police Chief Todd Osmundson said medical conditions were a factor in at least two of the deaths.

The number of traffic tickets written by Fargo police was 15,529 in 2017 and 13,972 last year.

Fargo Police Department tickets issued in 2018

Ticket Totals Distracted Driving 64 CANCELLED/REVOKED VEHICLE REGISTRATION, MAY FORFEIT, $100 BOND 2 DUI REFUSAL 1ST & 2ND OFFENSE 1 MARIJUANA PARAPHERNALIA POSSESSION 314 MARIJUANA POSSESSION <1 OZ 374 DUI REFUSAL 140 TEXTING WHILE DRIVING PROHIBITED 108 ILLEGAL DUMPING ON CITY STREETS 2 PEDESTRIAN FAILURE TO YIELD TO TRAFFIC 2 ANIMALS SHELTER REQUIRED 1 JUV USE/POSS OF TOBACCO 53 RESISTING POLICE OFFICER 4 A JUV SALE OF TOBACCO 17 CRIMINAL TRESPASS (MB) 1 MINOR IN LIQUOR ESTABLISHMENT 25 MIP/MCA/UNDER INFLUENCE 286 OPEN CONTAINER IN MV 89 DUI/APC 660 INDECENT DISORDERLY ACT 55 URINATING IN PUBLIC 51 CARRYING,POSSESSION, DISCHARGE OF DANGEROUS WEAPON(S) 2 SOLICITING WITHOUT PERMIT 1 C MINOR MISREPRESENTING AGE 5 LITTERING 10 ALCOHOL SELL/CONSUME VEH PUB 557 MINOR SALE OF ALCOHOL TO 15 OBSTRUCTING PUBLIC OFFICER 9 LOUD NOISE ORDINANCE 13 FIREWORKS SELL/USE IN CITY 2 PANHANDLING AGGRESSIVE 3 C PANHANDLING 70 POSS WEAPON OTHER 2 DISPLAY OR POSSESS FALSE ID 22 REG OWNR PERMIT VEH TO VIOLATE 2 RIGHT TURN ON RED PROHIBITED 61 SPEEDING - CONSTRUCTION ZONE 15 PEDESTRIAN DISOBEY RR SIGNAL 1 IMPROPER STOP/PARK ON STREET 2 DUS/DUR 1631 CONSUME ALCOHOL IN PARK 2 VIOLATION OF PARK HOURS 33 RACING 3 FICTITIOUS REGISTRATION 29 TAMPERING W/MOTOR VEHICLE 4 FAIL TO OBEY STOP SIGN 369 TRUCK EXCEED 5 TON PROHIBITED 2 OMV W/OUT DL IN POSSESSION 70 BIKE EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS 1 RIDE BIKE ON SIDEWALK RESTRICTIONS 4 OMV W/OUT REQ SAFETY BELTS 261 OPER SNOWMOBILE ALLOW <16 1 DRIVE PRIV PROP W/O DOING BUSINESS 6 DRIVE PRIV PROP AVOID TRAF CONTROL 2 DRIVE PRIV PROP AS SHORTCUT 1 LITTERING 2 IMPROPER START OF PARKED VEH 2 HELMET REQUIRED PASS/OPERATOR 1 OPENING VEH DOOR INTO TRAFFIC 1 IMPROPER BACKING 68 DRIVING THROUGH OR AROUND BARRICADE 3 DRIVE VEHICLE ON SIDEWALK 5 UNLAWFL PASS SCH BUS ONCOMING LN 48 UNLAWFUL PASSING OF SCHOOL BUS 14 DRIVE OFF ROADWAY IN PARK 1 IMPROPER LANE USAGE 165 PASSING IN NO PASSING ZONE 1 IMPROPER PASSING ON LEFT 4 IMPROPER PASSING ON RIGHT 1 FAIL TO DIM HEADLIGHTS 5 DRIVE ON WRONG SIDE OF ROADWAY 10 DRIVE WRONG SIDE OF DIVIDED ST 8 FAIL TO OBEY YIELD SIGN 8 YLD R/W EMERG/ENTER DRIVEWAY 44 YIELD R/W AT INTERSECTION 80 FOLLOWING TOO CLOSE 259 FAIL TO REMOVE KEYS/SET BRAKE 11 CHILD RESTRAINT DEVICE REQD 25 OMV IN UNSAFE CONDITION 2 PERMIT REQ EXCESSIVE SIZE/ WEIGHT 6 OMV W/MORE PSNGR THAN CAPACITY 5 LIGHTED LAMPS REQUIRED 94 LIGHTS/LAMPS FAIL CONFORM ST LAW 35 LEAKING OR LOOSE LOADS 37 MUFFLERS/EXHAUST SYSTEM REQD 3 OBSTRUCTED WINDOWS/WINDSHIELDS 27 BRAKES REQUIRED 1 DUTY UPON STRIKING FIXTUR/PROP 26 FAIL TO STOP/REMAIN AT ACC SCENE 46 FAIL TO MAKE WRITTEN REP/ACC 1 FAIL TO GIVE IMMED NOTICE/ACC 17 PEDESTRIAN OBSTRUCTING TRAFFIC 1 PEDESTRIAN SOLICIT RIDES OR BUSINESS 2 FAIL TO YIELD R/W PEDESTRIAN 5 FAIL TO TURN AS DIRECTED 7 FAIL TO YLD R/W TO PED EMERGE/ENTER 6 FAIL TO YLD R/W EMERGE/ENTER ALLEY 14 TURNING WHERE PROHIBITED 8 UNLAWFUL U-TURN 69 DISOBEY NO TURN SIGN 10 FAIL YLD R/W LEFT TURN/INTERSECTION 167 FAIL TO SIGNAL STOP 1 FAIL TO SIGNAL TURN 7 IMPROPER START/TURN/STOP 19 IMPROPER LEFT TURN ON 1 WAY 42 IMPROPER LEFT TURN ON 2 WAY 35 IMPROPER RIGHT TURN 43 DRIVER IMPEDING TRAFFIC 1 SPEED SCHOOL ZONE W/CHILD PRESENT 7 SPEED CARE REQUIRED 77 DISOBEY FLASHING SIGNAL 7 YIELD R/W TURN RT ON RED 1 DISOBEY TRAFFIC CONTROL SIGNAL 606 DISOBEY TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICES 6 OMV ON BICYCLE TRAIL 1 EXHIBITION DRIVING 38 DRAG RACING 7 PERMIT UNAUTH PERSON TO DRIVE 1 RECKLESS DRIVING 34 CARELESS DRIVING 32 SPEEDING 2227 OMV W/OUT LIABILITY INSURANCE 1240 ALCOHOL CONSUME/POSS IN BLDG 23 UNLAW POSESSION/DISPLAY OF DL 1 VIOL OF RESTRICTED LIC/GLASSES 2 VIOL OF RESTRICTED LIC/OTHER 49 OMV W/OUT VALID DRIVERS LIC 338 FAIL DISPLAY CURRENT VEH LIC 1682 FAIL TO CARRY REG CARD IN VEH 7 OWNER ALLOW UNLIC PERSON TO DRV 1 FAIL TO HAVE VEH UNDER CONTROL 479 FAIL TO YIELD TO EMERGENCY VEH 12 DISOBEY TEMP TRAF SIGN/BARRIER 1 WRONG WAY ON ONE WAY 42 LOUD PARTY FAIL TO DISPERSE 2 LOUD PARTY 73 ANIMAL HABITUALLY BARKING DOG 1 A ANIMAL DOG/CAT AT LARGE 3 FALSE FIRE/POLICE ALARM 1 DUI W/MINOR IN VEHICLE 4 DUI/APC - 4TH OR SUBSEQUENT 1 DISORDERLY CONDUCT 2 Traffic Totals 13972 Totals (includes the fix it, non traffic citations) 14076

Fargo Police Department tickets issued in 2017