Report: Massachusetts Has Safest Drivers In Nation
BOSTON (CBS) -- Massachusetts drivers have been called a lot of names, but now there's a new title they can claim: Safest drivers in America.
That's according to insurance company Obrella, which has ranked the safest states for U.S. drivers by calculating each state's traffic fatality rate per 100,000 drivers. Massachusetts is ranked No. 1 with 7.37 fatalities per 100,000 drivers.
There were 349 traffic fatalities in the Bay State and a total of 4,734,000 licensed drivers in 2012, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics cited by Obrella.
Other analyses of driver safety have not been as kind to the Commonwealth. A report by Allstate insurance released in August ranked Worcester and Boston as the worst driving cities in country based on collisions. And earlier this month Insure.com ranked Massachusetts fifth in a survey of America's rudest drivers.
Top 5 safest states for drivers
1. Massachusetts
2. Washington
3. Rhode Island
4. Connecticut
5. New Jersey
Bottom 5 states
46. West Virginia
47. Wyoming
48. Oklahoma
49. Mississippi
50. North Dakota
MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON
