Washington state is somewhat notorious for its poor drivers — several past reports indicate it has some of the worst in the country.
Now, a new study finds one Washington city offers a particularly unpleasant driving experience, according to personal finance website WalletHub.
Researchers ranked Seattle 91 out of 100 in the company’s report “2020’s Best and Worst Cities to Drive in” — meaning only nine U.S. cities ranked worse when it comes to overall driving conditions, according to WalletHub.
WalletHub says it evaluated a city’s driver-friendliness based on four main factors — “cost of ownership and maintenance,” “traffic and infrastructure,” “safety” and “access to vehicles and maintenance,” according to the study’s methodology.
Seattle ranked 86 in cost of ownership and maintenance, 84 in traffic and infrastructure, 60 in safety and 55 in access to vehicles and maintenance. The report also noted that Seattle ranked third for “most days with precipitation,” tying with Cleveland, Ohio.
Seattle also has some of the highest maintenance costs, coming in third-most expensive behind New York City and Honolulu, Hawaii, according to the report.
WalletHub used data from 100 of the country’s most populated cities but excluded “cities in the surrounding metro areas,” the report says. The study determined a city’s rank for each category “using 31 relevant metrics.”
Those metrics include a city’s rate of car thefts, average commute time, average gas prices and quality of roads.
The WalletHub report is just the latest to rank Washington drivers poorly.
Earlier in 2020, WalletHub released a report that ranked Washington as the third worst state to drive in. The earlier study used the same methodology as the report released Sept. 1, according to WalletHub.
The online insurance comparison marketplace QuoteWizard also ranked Washington drivers the tenth worst in the U.S. in 2018.
Lincoln, Nebraska came in first as the best city for driving in the most recent WalletHub report, while Oakland, California was named the worst city to drive in.
This story was originally published September 01, 2020 1:04 PM.