Widespread use of telematics devices to monitor vehicle and driver performance gives fleet technology suppliers plenty of data to analyze and identify macro-level trends.
Recently, Verizon Connect analyzed driving data from its customers to identify states with the safest and most dangerous commercial drivers.
Its analysis accounted for harsh acceleration, harsh braking, harsh cornering, and speeding. Fatalities were thrown into the mix to calculate the safest and most unsafe states based on driving behaviors.
According to this infographic, the top three safest states are Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Nearly all 10 of the safest states are in the New England area where speeding opportunities may be limited due to traffic congestion. Perhaps not coincidentally, states with the fewest speeding events are Vermont, Virginia and Connecticut.
The most dangerous states all have large expanses of rural areas where speeding is likely to be more common. That seems to be the case for three states with the most speeding events — North and South Dakota and Montana.
On the other hand, Verizon’s data show that North Dakota has the safest drivers, which would seem to repudiate the hypothesis that commercial drivers in rural areas are more dangerous. The states with the most dangerous drivers, starting with Utah at number one, all have more variables at play than speeding.
