Detroit has the best drivers in America, study says

Brian Manzullo | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Why does car insurance in Detroit cost so much? Detroit drivers face the highest average insurance rates for cars and other vehicles in the country,

It only seems fitting that the Motor City would have America's best drivers - though we can already hear our readers rushing to the comments section to call nonsense.

A recent study conducted by QuoteWizard.com found that Detroit has the greatest drivers among the 75 most populous metropolitan areas in the United States.

QuoteWizard.com - an insurance website that allows you to compare insurance quotes in your area - determined this by sampling incident stats "from users of our website with over two million data points from 2016." This includes accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs and citations (running a red light, using a phone while driving, etc.).

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Detroit particularly ranks well in accident rate (the lowest in the country) and speeding citations (second lowest).

Earlier this year, INRIX's 2016 Global Traffic Scorecard revealed that Detroit has the best traffic among American metropolitan areas with more than 3 million people.

Providence, Orlando, Miami and Little Rock round out the Top 5 best driving cities in America. The worst? Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Riverside (Calif.), Richmond and San Diego.

Grand Rapids ranks as the No. 14 best driving city.

Here's what QuoteWizard.com said about Detroit:

The Motor City is home to many distinctions, including having the most expensive car insurance rates in the country. Add the high number of uninsured and oft-unlicensed drivers, and things look start looking bleak for Detroit's roadways. But surprisingly, our study firmly places Detroit in the top spot as America's best driving city. Detroit has the lowest accident rate and second lowest amount of speeding citations according to our data. Congratulations, people of Detroit. Despite a topsy-turvy economy and rapidly transforming city scape, your citizens are great drivers. Of course, you may need to take out a second mortgage to afford car insurance, but that’s a whole other story.

Yes, there are plenty of things to complain about - insurance rates, potholes, construction, lane closures, Michigan lefts - but Detroit-area drivers seem to have it better than most cities in the country when it comes to quality drivers.

Contact Brian Manzullo: bmanzullo@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrianManzullo.

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