State’s drivers the most unsafe in the U.S., report says

Connecticut drivers are the most unsafe in the country according to a report released this week.

Motorists in Connecticut use their cellphones 34 percent of the time when they are behind the wheel and are speeding 56 percent of the time, according to a 2018 safe driving report by EverQuote Insurance.

The company’s second annual EverDrive Safe Driving Report showed Connecticut scored a nationwide worst 71.6. Connecticut drivers were ranked the second most unsafe in the country in the company’s inaugural report last year.

The release of the report coincides with the National Safety Council's National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

EverQuote analyzed the data of the more than 780 miles logged by EverDrive users in 2017 to compile the report, which ranked the states based on five categories: speeding, phone use, hard braking, hard turning and aggressive acceleration.

The report showed U.S. drivers use their phones more than a third of the time when behind the wheel. On average, the drivers spent more than three minutes on their phones for trips that lasted about a half hour.

The Massachusetts insurance company found motorists in the Midwest recorded the highest safe driving scores. Montana was ranked the safest with Wyoming, South Dakota and Idaho also scoring in the top-five.

Northeast states ranked the least safest for the second straight year. Rhode Island scored slightly better than Connecticut and Pennsylvania was ranked the third most unsafe state.

The report also showed men and women speed and use their phones at about the same rate while driving.

Cedar Attanasio / Hearst Connecticut Media Connecticut State Trooper Jon Kaufman issues a distracted driving citation on I-95 near Stratford as part of a statewide ramp-up in enforcement fueled by federal grants.