Utah drivers react to being named third-worst drivers in the US

SALT LAKE CITY — For anyone who's ever heard that Utah drivers are some of the worst in the country, a recent report suggests there may be some truth to that. A study ranking the best and worst drivers in the U.S. put Utah as the third worst in America.

For some, this comes as no surprise. There are those who've heard people badmouth Utah drivers for years. Nobody wants to admit they're a bad driver, but if you look at this report, the complainers may be right.

Get behind the wheel in Utah, and you've probably seen it: crashes, people speeding, drivers getting tickets, or driving drunk. Put them all together, and that's why Lending Tree ranks Utahns as the third-worst drivers in the country.

The report ranking the best and worst drivers by state in December 2025 shows North Dakota topping the list, New Jersey in second and then Utah. According to Lending Tree's research, Utah averaged roughly 54 driving incidents for every 1,000 drivers.

Utah drivers who KSL talked to weren't necessarily surprised.

"There definitely is a lot of unreasonable competition out on the road," driver Micah Boyce said.

"I don't know if they're the worst in the country, but they're the most impatient," said Utahn Gary Smith.

"My partner can attest to sometimes we're in the car, and I'm like, 'Why are you doing this?'" Chelise Schaefer said.

When KSL asked them what they see, they had plenty of stories, some about distracted drivers.

"You're going and you're trying to turn and look, and they're actively sitting there looking at their phone, looking down," Schaefer said.

Or other stories about drivers getting revenge on others for going too slow.

"They moved to the right from me, zoomed past me, got in front of me and slowed down, like they were going 70 mph in the fast lane," Boyce said.

State troopers have their own list of bad driving habits they'd like Utah drivers to fix.

"The ones that we focus on a lot is going to be speed, speed is our No. 1 contributor to crashes," said Lt. Cameron Roden, with the Utah Highway Patrol.

One could look at this way: Being the third worst in the country, Utah has a lot of room to grow.

"As Utah drivers, we can definitely do better," Schaefer said.

"We want to people to come here to Utah and enjoy the state without having to comment on how bad our drivers are," Roden said.

To be fair, Lending Tree is just one group that makes lists like this. State troopers run their own metric, and another list reports Utah drivers aren't that bad. So you can't take the Lending Tree list as the end all be all, but the fact Utah drivers are on the list tells you the common complaints aren't based on nothing.

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