Worst drives in Beavercreek | Photo by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
Dayton, known for being the “birthplace of aviation,” is also infamous for residents’ reckless driving, a fact that makes the city’s roads dangerous.
Ohio’s terrible driving rates
Reports from Lending Tree and QuoteWizard in recent years cite the Dayton area as particularly dangerous in terms of driving.
In 2023, QuoteWizard ranked Dayton as the second-worst city in the country in terms of bad drivers, a statistic reflecting poorly on the quality of local drivers.
“Dayton's poor driving ranking is due to a high number of speeding incidents (second-worst overall) and citations (third-worst),” the QuoteWizard article stated.
Dayton continues to hold this standing for one of the worst cities for driving. More recently, however, Beavercreek has made news for citizens’ poor driving abilities.
“Beavercreek is home to Ohio’s worst drivers, thanks to its rate of 28.8 incidents per 1,000 drivers,” an article from Lending Tree stated.
This incident rate was the highest by far compared to the runner-ups for worst drivers in Ohio, with second place being Delaware, with a rate of 20.3.
The drastic difference in numbers, with an 8.5 difference between first and second place, goes to show just how poor Beavercreek drivers’ abilities are.
With many statistics from insurance companies proving Dayton to be home to unfit drivers, the reasons for these claims lead to bigger issues within the community.
Why Dayton?
Recent claims of poor drivers in the Dayton area have been made in regards to speeding, traffic citations, accidents, intoxicated driving incidents and general driving incidents.
According to the Dayton Daily News, Dayton ranked high in all categories related to speeding, citations and crashes.
While there may be many reasons that contribute to these poor driving abilities, one stands out the most: interstate-75, which cuts through Dayton, and is a major source of crashes.
On top of this, poor traffic setups and overall driving environments can also lead to speeding, traffic citations and overall accidents that happen in the Dayton and Beavercreek area.
However, the reason for the high ranking of intoxicated drivers is not yet explained. There are no particular factors that lead to a higher rate of intoxication.
More reasons credited to drivers’ driving abilities are based on speculation and have no statistics to back up claims.
Many theorize that the incidents that occur in the area are from out-of-towners, as Beavercreek and Dayton are areas to get off the highway for food or rest.
Whatever the reason, being a cautious driver and more action taken by the city to battle the issue of intoxicated driving is needed to create change and enforce safety.
