In the state home to Talladega Superspeedway, you’d expect residents to have a lead-footed mentality on the roads in Alabama. Fast of course, but with laser precision turns to avoid bumping fellow drivers into the wall. By QuoteWizard standards Alabama drivers are typically among the better drivers in the country. They avoid high marks when it comes to reckless driving behavior.
In QuoteWizard’s best and worst driving states studies from 2016 to 2018, Alabama was always ranked in the top half of states when it comes to good driving. Coming in at 15th best driving state in 2018. Overall good quality driving by our data, but according to the NHTSA data Alabama ranks among the worst with a road fatality rate of 19.45 per 100,000 people. Different cities can weigh down those figures, so we sought to find which cities in the state of Alabama rated among the best drivers and the worst drivers.
To determine overall driver quality in Alabama, we ranked the 50 largest cities in the state. We analyzed over 91,000 insurance quotes from Alabama drivers using QuoteWizard.com and ranked cities by the highest rate of incidents. Incidents include accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations.
Worst Driving Cities in Alabama
| Rank (worst) | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | Trussville |
| 2 | Millbrook |
| 3 | Alabaster |
| 4 | Pelham |
| 5 | Gardendale |
| 6 | Vestavia Hills |
| 7 | Tillmans Corner |
| 8 | Northport |
| 9 | Homewood |
| 10 | Hartselle |
| 11 | Helena |
| 12 | Foley |
| 13 | Daphne |
| 14 | Athens |
| 15 | Calera |
| 16 | Prattville |
| 17 | Hoover |
| 18 | Hueytown |
| 19 | Opelika |
| 20 | Montgomery |
| 21 | Cullman |
| 22 | Birmingham |
| 23 | Auburn |
| 24 | Saraland |
| 25 | Bessemer |
| 26 | Tuscaloosa |
Trussville
With busy I-59 and merging I-459, Trussville is in a perfect place for a city with bad drivers. All the traffic headed north east from Birmingham there’s plenty of risk for the drivers of Trussville. Busy conditions plus citizens with a knack for bad driving habits are likely why Trussville takes the top spot in the state. Trussville resides in both Jefferson and St. Clair counties. We’re guessing the bad driving occurs in the St. Clair county side of Trussville. In 2017 St. Clair county had 21.54 road fatalities per 100,000 people.
Millbrook
Just as you’re leaving Montgomery headed north to Birmingham you’ll pass thru Millbrook on I-65. Another high traffic area that is prone to a high rate of incidents in town. Just like Trussville, there’s a special combo of traffic to go along with bad driving habits of Millbrook drivers. Residing in both Autauga and Elmore counties, the worst of the driving happens in Autauga county where there were 25.22 road fatalities per 100,000 people in 2017.
Alabaster
Continuing on I-65 just outside of Brimingham you’ll pass right thru Alabaster. Again aother bad driving city residing in a high traffic area. And again, high traffic plus bad drivers will equate to a poor ranking for Alabaster drivers. Shelby county as a whole is a fairly safe county. Only 11.24 road fatalities occurred in the county in 2017, well below the state average.
Best Driving Cities in Alabama
| Rank (best) | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mountain Brook |
| 2 | Troy |
| 3 | Selma |
| 4 | Prichard |
| 5 | Alexander City |
| 6 | Fort Payne |
| 7 | Enterprise |
| 8 | Mobile |
| 9 | Gadsden |
| 10 | Phenix City |
| 11 | Muscle Shoals |
| 12 | Scottsboro |
| 13 | Talladega |
| 14 | Fairhope |
| 15 | Ozark |
| 16 | Dothan |
| 17 | Anniston |
| 18 | Center Point |
| 19 | Decatur |
| 20 | Oxford |
| 21 | Florence |
| 22 | Albertville |
| 23 | Huntsville |
| 24 | Madison |
| 25 | Tuscaloosa |
Mountain Brook
Just south west of the worst driving city of Trussville is Mountain Brook, the best driving city in the state. Mountain Brook is a tucked away suburb of Mirmingham that has very little highway traffic passing through. Making it the perfect combo of low traffic and great drivers! Jefferson county accounted for 12.59 road fatalities per 100,000 people in 2017.
Troy
Getting outside of the metro area cities mentioned above, Troy is the one of the smaller towns on the list that garners acclaim for its good drivers. With not much traffic going in and out of town, residents of Troy can pat themselves on the back for being good drivers. On the flip side however, Pike county did have 33.07 road fatalities per 100,000 people. Making it the area one of the most dangerous in the state.
Selma
Again, getting outside of the metro area’s of Alabama has it’s advantages on driver quality. A similar sized city to Troy, Selma benefits from good drivers and little outside traffic passing through town. Dallas county did have 28.05 road fatalities per 100,000 people. Well above the state average.
Methodology
The QuoteWizard research team evaluated driver quality from the 50 largest cities in Alabama by population. We analyzed 2018 data of over 91,000 insurance quotes from Alabama drivers using QuoteWizard to find the rate of overall incidents in each city. Incidents include accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations.
References:
QuoteWizard.com LLC has made every effort to ensure that the information on this site is correct, but we cannot guarantee that it is free of inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. All content and services provided on or through this site are provided "as is" and "as available" for use. QuoteWizard.com LLC makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation of this site or to the information, content, materials, or products included on this site. You expressly agree that your use of this site is at your sole risk.