Insurer Says The Capital Region’s Worst Drivers Live In This City

We all know rush hour in the Capital Region can get a little dicey. It’s easy to crack jokes about which city has the worst drivers (and we’ve all speculated) but now we finally have some concrete, statistical proof. One city isn’t just the worst in the Capital Region – they’re the worst in the entire state of New York.

Enter Insurify. They’re a web company that compares auto insurance rates. Through their line of work, they’ve collected a massive database of 4.6 million insurance applications. Insurify then looked at every metro population of 50,000+ measured by the 2020 US Census for “bad drivers.”

To fit Insurify’s qualification of a “bad driver,” you must have at least one prior at-fault moving violation on record in the past seven years. This obviously includes accidents, but also offenses like speeding, running red lights, driving with expired insurance, and DUI.

So which city has New York’s worst drivers?

Maybe you’d expect this shock if you’ve driven through The Electric City: Schenectady takes gold for having the Capital Region and the state’s worst drivers. Insurify found 20.1% of drivers had an at-fault violation on record - 43% greater than the New York state average.

To be somewhat fair, the roads in Schenectady might also be the worst in the Capital Region and it's difficult to drive safely when you're playing pothole roulette.

As for public opinion, a trip through Twitter finds arguments on both sides of the aisle.

At least The Electric City isn’t the absolute worst in America – that would be Canton, Ohio, where nearly 28% of drivers have an at-fault traffic offense on their record. As a matter of fact, Schenectady didn’t even break the top 10.

Insurify’s study doesn’t quite link up with a less formal, but more local survey done by GNA earlier this year of their listeners to find the Capital Region’s worst driving city.