Study says New Jersey drivers are the least likely to drive drunk

This is the time of the year for parties; office parties and family get-togethers. That means a lot of drinking, which, unfortunately, means a lot of drunk driving. In 2021, 13,384 people died in drunk driving crashes, a 14% increase from 2020.

According to Forbes Advisor, nearly 30% of fatal car accidents in November and December 2021, the most recent data available, involved a drunk driver. 

Getting caught driving drunk can screw up a person’s life, and that’s assuming they didn’t get in an accident and hurt someone. The difficulty in getting car insurance, loss of license, and even jail time are all possible outcomes of getting busted.

Forbes Advisor ranked all 50 states to see which states have the worst problem with drinking and driving.

There’s good news, well, for us anyway. New Jersey ranks as the least likely state to drink and drive.

We achieved an overall score of 0.

Some of the metrics include the percentage of fatal crashes caused by drinking and driving at 25.46%; compare that to Montana (the worst) at 43.51%.

Then comes the number of DUI arrests, per 100,000 residents: 245.66; South Dakota has 879.12.

In drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes, we have 2.08. The worst in that metric, Montana is the worst again at 8.57.

Montana is also the worst overall, followed by South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, and North Dakota.

The best, following New Jersey, are Delaware, Utah, Massachusetts, and New York.

It’s nice to know that, at least in this one category, New Jersey roads are the safest.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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