When It Comes To Driving Conditions, Utah Is Pretty, Average

Sometimes it's good to be mediocre. That's going to upset some of you, but sometimes it's not a bad thing to not be on the top of a list.

You've seen several articles on our website talking about how bad, or, in a few cases, how good the drivers are here in Utah. But this is a little bit or a different tack. Wallet Hub recently released a study that didn't concentrate on the drivers in individual states, but more on what are the driving conditions in each state.

Interestingly, Utah came in at a very average 17^th. Now, I know everyone wants to be the best in everything, but I'm OK being in the middle of the pack here. When you consider that some of the factors that went in to the survey included time spent in congestion, general road conditions, and the amount of precipitation that falls in the individual states, Utah did all right.

States with the least precipitation got the highest rankings in that category. I'm somewhat satisfied that Utah is not on the top of that list since we need the snow to keep our reservoirs full, and to bring skiers to the state.

I would like to see us do better in a few of the categories. For example, Utah came in at 26^th in the category of cost of ownership and maintenance, so we pay a little over average for the purchase and upkeep on our vehicles than other states.

We came in at 17^th on the list of traffic and infrastructure. That means while we do have some rush hour traffic to deal with in Utah, mostly along the Wasatch Front, we don't rank as the highest. In the minute road conditions, such as weather, along with the quality of roads and bridges contributed to the category.

Utah came in as the 16^th safest state to drive in. This category took in to consideration the way we drive in Utah, seat belt usage, strictness of DUI laws, the rating of our driving laws among other factors.

Iowa came in as the best state for driving in. Their ranking was determined in part because

it's a rural state and has one of the lowest rush-hour congestion rates in the country.

Taking a wider look, the U.S. actually has some work to do. The U.S. bears the burden of having eight of the world's 25 worst cities for traffic, and 19 of the worst 25 in North America. Beyond congestion, road safety and quality are significant concerns. Despite a decent track record, the U.S. ranks 17th globally for road quality, according to the World Economic Forum.

Sounds like Utah isn't the only the place with some work to do.