California has the worst drivers, new ranking says. Bakersfield and Sacramento top the list

You’ve seen them around town, running red lights, swerving on the freeway and violating stop-sign right of way.

Bad drivers are on our streets — and California cities have some of the worst.

QuoteWizard by LendingTree, an online insurance service, recently assessed 70 of the largest cities in the United States and ranked them by quality of drivers. The annual report, called The Best and Worst Drivers by City, looked at 2022 data on insurance quotes and ranked cities based on number of speeding tickets, driving citations, accidents and DUIs.

Cities that are considered to have the worst drivers have the highest rates of incidents.

Bakersfield ranked No. 1 and Sacramento ranked No. 2 on the list of cities with the worst drivers, a large jump from last year when it was ranked seventh worst.

Eight California cities made it on the top 10 list. This includes Richmond at No. 9, Riverside at No. 8, Fresno at No. 7 and San Diego at No. 6.

San Francisco made it at No. 5 and Los Angeles at 4.

According to the study, Sacramento made it in the top 10 in accidents, DUIs and citations, and barely made it outside the top 10 in speeding. Sacramento ranked No. 2 for the highest number of DUIs.

Where are the good drivers?

The best drivers, per the rankings, are in Louisville, Kentucky, which landed at No. 1.

“The Kentucky city has the lowest number of citations, and fewer citations generally means a city will do well in every category,” according to the study. “Louisville also has a low number of accidents, DUIs and speeding tickets.”

And unlike Sacramento, drivers in Louisville are improving, jumping from their spot at No. 6 in 2021.

This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 11:24 AM with the headline "California has the worst drivers, new ranking says. Bakersfield and Sacramento top the list."