Sharing the roads with fellow Virginian drivers, do you regularly think to yourself-” I live with the worst drivers in the world”. In the world might be a stretch. But in the country you’re not far off. Virginia regularly ranks towards the bottom in QuoteWizard’s annual best and worst driver study. Coming in at 3rd worst driving state in 2016. Even Virginia’s largest cities Richmond and Virginia Beach, tend to rate poorly in driver quality for our studies.
Although Virginia drivers rate among of the worst in the country. Virginia does fall below the national average when it comes to road fatalities. Coming in at 9.91 fatalities per 100,000 people. Rating better than southern neighbor North Carolina which had 13.74 road fatalities per 100,000 people. Also better than western neighbor West Virginia that had 16.69 fatalities per 100,000
To say all Virginia drivers are bad drivers would be a misnomer, our team of auto analysts set out to discover which cities have the best drivers and which cities are home to the worst. We put together a ranking of the 50 largest cities in Virginia by overall driver quality. We analyzed over 90,000 insurance quotes from Virginia drivers using QuoteWizard.com and ranked cities by the highest rate of incidents. Incidents include accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations.
Virginia's Worst Driving Cities
| Rank (worst) | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | Oakton |
| 2 | Leesburg |
| 3 | Tuckahoe |
| 4 | Staunton |
| 5 | Linton Hall |
| 6 | Fairfax |
| 7 | Manassas |
| 8 | Cave Spring |
| 9 | Danville |
| 10 | Salem |
| 11 | Chesapeake |
| 12 | Petersburg |
| 13 | Dale City |
| 14 | Springfield |
| 15 | Roanoke |
| 16 | Alexandria |
| 17 | Burke |
| 18 | Fredericksburg |
| 19 | Richmond |
| 20 | Hopewell |
| 21 | Lake Ridge |
| 22 | Hampton |
| 23 | South Riding |
| 24 | Chantilly |
| 25 | Bailey's Crossroads |
Oakton
Right outside the busy DC metroplex is Virginia’s worst driving city, Oakton. The congested DC area tends the bring out the worst in drivers, and Oakton is no exception. With I-66 passing thru there’s plenty of traffic to cause a high rate of incidents. The incidents in Oakton and Fairfax county tend to be minor, as the county in 2017 had a road fatality rate of 2.96 per 100,000 people. An incredibly low figure for such a populous county.
Leesburg
It’s always surprising to see a more rural town near the top of the worst drivers list. The equation is typically more cars on the road the higher risk of road incidents occurring. Leesburg bucking this trend is an unwanted acknowledgment of its residents bad driving habits. Loudoun County does keep a low rate of road fatalities. Only 5.28 per 100,000 people in 2017.
Tuckahoe
Heading back into the busy suburban areas we find Tuckahoe rounding out the top 3 worst driving cities in Virginia. While I-64 only runs on the northern border and no other major highways passing through Tuckahoe, there might be the case for residents being legitimate bad drivers. Fingers could be pointed at young drivers at University of Richmond, but with an enrollment of only 4,000 that might be unlikely. Henrico county tallied a rate of 7.32 road fatalities per 100,000 people in 2017.
Virginia's Best Driving Cities
| Rank (best) | City |
|---|---|
| 1 | McLean |
| 2 | Tysons Corner |
| 3 | Short Pump |
| 4 | Annandale |
| 5 | Herndon |
| 6 | Sterling |
| 7 | Blacksburg |
| 8 | Charlottesville |
| 9 | Harrisonburg |
| 10 | Suffolk |
| 11 | Arlington |
| 12 | Portsmouth |
| 13 | Norfolk |
| 14 | Reston |
| 15 | Lynchburg |
| 16 | Mechanicsville |
| 17 | Centreville |
| 18 | Christiansburg |
| 19 | Lincolnia |
| 20 | West Falls Church |
| 21 | Ashburn |
| 22 | West Springfield |
| 23 | Newport News |
| 24 | Winchester |
| 25 | Virginia Beach |
McLean
North of Arlington and the opposite end of the list from Oakton is the best driving city in the state, McLean. Wearing the grunt of both I-66 and I 495 traffic McLean drivers keep their ‘McCool’ on the roads. A true testament to their residents indeed. As noted above in Oakton’s blurb, Fairfax County has one of the lowest road fatality rates in the state. Likely held up on the backs of stellar drivers in McLean.
Tysons Corner
McLean’s next door neighbor to the east, Tysons must share all the same great driving attributes. Tysons residents deal with five major highway intersections, yet they keep a clean bill of automobile health. Tip of the hat to Tysons drivers. Another city residing in Fairfax County and sharing the load with McLean to keep the counties road fatality rate so low.
Short Pump
Dealing with the intersections of I-64 and I-295, Short Pump, like it’s fellow safe divers are resistant to heavy traffic coming in and out of their town. Just to the north of bad driving city Tuckahoe, Short Pump drivers can hang their hats on being the best drivers in Henrico County. Keeping their counties fatality rates low and residents safe on the roads.
Methodology
The QuoteWizard research team evaluated driver quality from the 50 largest cities in Virginia by population. We analyzed 2018 data of over 90,000 insurance quotes from Virginia drivers using QuoteWizard to find the rate of overall incidents in each city. Incidents include accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs, and citations.
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