The Terrifying Reason To Be Extra Alert While Road Tripping Through North Dakota

There you are, bolting down I-95 through North Dakota, and you just want the road to end. You're pushing a reasonable 80 miles per hour — the interstate speed limit is 75 — and the landscape is bread-pan flat, as far as the eye can see. As the suburbs of Bismarck vanish in the rearview mirror, you check your GPS again, because you can't believe there are still 118 more miles between you and your destination. You're excited to visit the underrated midwest national park with beautiful wildlife and fewer crowds, yet you feel like you've been driving forever.

Then you see it: emergency lights flashing on the highway shoulder. You recognize a couple of cruisers, a rescue vehicle, and two regular cars resting at odd angles, their sides crushed from a high-speed impact. Debris litters the road. You slow and give this accident a wide berth, grateful to see the drivers standing, talking into their phones and surrounded by first-responders. Everyone looks okay.

But most likely, this isn't the first accident you've seen on this lonely highway. The odds are good that you've spotted a couple of accidents, or at least traces of automotive snafus. Why? Because North Dakota ranks poorly when it comes to driver safety, and visitors should bear that in mind when they breeze through the state.

According to the North Dakota Department of Transportation, the state saw 10,734 car accidents in 2022 alone, resulting in 98 fatalities — and these figures were actually down from previous years. That might not sound like a lot, except that North Dakota has a population of about 780,000 in the entire state, which is fewer people than, say, the city of Columbus, Ohio.

More damning still was a study by QuoteWizard, an insurance comparison tool related to the LendingTree marketplace. According to the study, North Dakota drivers were ranked sixth in their list of the states with the worst drivers in the country. The state also ranked second worst for both speeding tickets and DUIs, as well as third worst for citations, such as texting while driving or not wearing a seatbelt. The study was released in 2022 and based on more than 10 million insurance claims from across the country. So before you hit the road for North Dakota's breathtaking badlands, use these tips from a car insurance expert to prepare for your trip.

Statistics don't tell the whole story, and North Dakotans may enjoy hearing that Utah took the number one spot for worst driving, followed by California. But the high incidence of speeding and driving under the influence doesn't bode well for the Peace Garden State. There are many reasons North Dakota has earned such lousy scores. For one, the population density of North Dakota isn't quite 10 people per square mile, making it one of the most rural states in the U.S. If you've ever driven through this part of the Midwest, you know how far you can travel without seeing a town, patrolman, or even a passing big rig. The oil and gas industry has also attracted hordes of new residents, who have to acclimate to unfamiliar roads and driving styles. Plus, there are the infamous winters, when black ice and whiteouts are routine.

Road trippers should also anticipate long distances between one major town and another. Out here, it's perfectly reasonable for North Dakotans to drive several hours before stopping. If you're not used to all those level horizons, the repetition can lull you into highway hypnosis or even put you to sleep at the wheel. This is why it's important to avoid driving more than a certain number of hours in a day while on a road trip. After all, there are a lot of wonderful people and places to see in North Dakota — so don't let a few reckless motorists stop you from enjoying it.