I’m sure you’ve heard of the derogative term “Massholes”, but in the rare case that you haven’t, it refers to inconsiderate drivers from Massachusetts.
It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out where it comes from. For what it’s worth, the Oxford English Dictionary officially added the word “Masshole” in 2015.
According to auto insurer Allstate’s annual “Best Drivers Report”, there seems to be some truth in it, especially for Bostonian drivers who were ranked the worst motorists in a study concerning the 200 most populous cities the United States. Worcester came in a close second or 199th, while Springfield, fourth from the end, at 196th.
Full disclosure – and feel free to comment away, this author used to live in Worcester before moving out to Boston…
The study claims that Boston drivers are 167.6% more likely to be involved in an accident compared to the national average, reporting an incident every 3.7 years. They’re also pretty fond of slamming their brakes at 16.8 times per 1,000 miles (1,600km) – though if you’ve ever driven around Boston, especially during winter time when many roads resemble craters on the moon, you just might cut them/us some slack.
At the other end of the spectrum, the city of Brownsville in Texas, topped the list, with drivers going 14.6 years between accidents, or 31.4% less than the national average, followed by motorists in Kansas City, Kansas, at 13.6 years, and Madison, Wisconsin, which at 13.3 years, came in third.
Opening Photo: John Halas
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