Tesla Owners Are Most Accident-Prone, But Another Brand Has Worst Drivers
A study by Lending Tree determined which car brand has the worst drivers. Results revealed that Tesla drivers have the highest accident rate amongst the 30 brands analyzed. Ram operators, meanwhile, were named the overall worst drivers. Lending Tree examined QuoteWizard insurance quote data for each brand from November 2022 through November 2023, looking at incidents such as DUI, speeding, accidents, and tickets.
Ram drivers placed in the top five amongst each of the four incident brackets. They acquired more speeding tickets per 1,000 drivers (4.42) than any other brand studied. Ram operators had the second-most accidents (22.76) and DUIs (1.72), but the fifth-most traffic tickets (8.00). In 23 states, incidents for Ram drivers exceeded any other brand. In Massachusetts, for example, Ram had an incident rate of 64.44 per 1,000 drivers.
Tesla owners were found to be the second worst drivers. They incurred 31.13 incidents for every 1,000 drivers, and had the highest accident rate of any brand with 23.54 over the 12 months studied. Tesla drivers had the highest incident rates in 11 states, the only brand besides Ram to roll into double digits.
Subaru drivers were ranked as the third-worst drivers, with 30.09 incidents per 1,000 operators. Ram, Tesla, and Subaru were the only brands with driver incident rates above 30.
Notably, both Rams and Teslas are known for their speed. The Ram 1500 features on J.D. Power’s list of the fastest pickup trucks, able to go from 0 to 60 mph in under 8 seconds. Meanwhile, four Tesla models can be found on Kelley Blue Book’s 2023 ranking of the speediest electric vehicles.
While it’s hard to say exactly why some car brands have more accidents than others, Rob Bhatt, a LendingTree insurance expert, highlighted a few possibilities. “Most people who drive minivans seem more interested in getting their kids around town safely than they are in zipping around in a high-horsepower vehicle,” Bhatt explained.
“Regardless of the vehicle you drive, it’s important to be responsible behind the wheel,” he cautioned. “If you look at crash statistics, you’ll see that speeding, impairment, and distracted driving are among the leading causes of car crashes. These are all behaviors you can control.”
The top five car brands with the most driver incidents are below. You can find the full list here.
- Ram (32.90 incidents per 1,000 drivers)
- Tesla (31.13)
- Subaru (30.09)
- Volkswagen (27.92)
- Mazda (27.74)
