New Study Says The Worst Drivers In Illinois Live In These Cities

I remember my grandfather describing my grandmother's driving skills this way: "She's never been in an accident...but she's sure caused a hell of a lot of them." He was responding to her claims of being an excellent or outstanding driver.

That's the thing about most bad drivers here in Illinois or anywhere else there are vehicles traveling on roads--nearly everyone thinks that they're a very good to excellent driver, even if they are most certainly not.

There's even survey information that backs that up.

According to a NewsWeek survey from last September, 94% of Americans consider themselves to be good drivers. In a similar study, Nationwide.com reports that 86% rate their own driving behavior as excellent or very good. That would mean that 6 percent and 14 percent respectively rate their own driving as being below excellent or very good. Regardless of which study you prefer, we end up with around 20 percent of Americans who consider themselves to be bad (or at least below excellent or very good) drivers.

Let's take a look at where those drivers live in Illinois, and maybe shine the spotlight on the cities with the best drivers, too.

A New Study Took A Look At Car Accident Rates As A Way Of Determining Which Cities Had The Best And Worst Drivers, And They Looked At The Ages Of Those Drivers, Too

LendingTree.com recently released the results of their study, which contains a breakdown of the best and worst drivers by city in Illinois, along with age groups and car brands.

Before we get to the cities, let's look at what they found when it comes to the best and worst driving age groups in Illinois. LendingTree.com:

Illinois’ best drivers by age group are Boomers. They get into just 16.2 incidents per 1,000 drivers. The Silent Generation comes in a close second, with a rate of 16.7.

The worst drivers by age group in Illinois come from Gen Z. Their incident rate is by far the highest of the generations we surveyed, at 42.0 per 1,000 drivers. Millennials are next, with a rate of 21.4.

Here's Where You'll Find The Best And Worst Drivers In Illinois

According to the LendingTree study, the drivers in these 5 Illinois cities are the best in the state, based upon number of accidents per 1,000 drivers:

1. Schaumburg: 9.2 accidents per 1,000 people
2. Cicero: 10.2 accidents per 1,000 people
3. Mount Prospect: 10.2 accidents per 1,000 people
4. Arlington Heights: 10.8 accidents per 1,000 people
5. Tinley Park: 11.3 accidents per 1,000 people

The worst drivers in Illinois are driving in these 5 cities:

1. Decatur: 26.7 accidents per 1,000 people
2. Bloomington: 24.6 accidents per 1,000 people
3. Peoria: 18.8 per 1,000 people
4. Naperville: 16.0 accidents per 1,000 people
5. Rockford: 15.8 accidents per 1,000 people

The cars that are most often involved in accidents in Illinois:

1. Ram: 26.7 incidents per 1,000 drivers
2. Subaru: 25.9 incidents per 1,000 drivers
3. Audi: 24.1 incidents per 1,000 drivers
4. Pontiac: 22.9 incidents per 1,000 drivers
5. Mazda: 22.8 incidents per 1,000 drivers