Charlotte-area drivers may finally have some data to back up their complaints about traffic on both sides of the state line.
A new LendingTree study ranks North Carolina as having the second-worst drivers in America. South Carolina tied for third, placing nearly the entire Charlotte region among the nation’s highest-ranked states for driving incidents.
North Carolina recorded 48.1 driving incidents per 1,000 drivers through August. Only New Jersey ranked worse at 56.9.
South Carolina and Massachusetts tied for third with 45.9 incidents per 1,000 drivers. Virginia ranked sixth at 41.5.
North Carolina also had the third-highest accident rate in the country, with 30.5 crashes per 1,000 drivers. Only New Jersey and Massachusetts ranked higher.
The state tied for seventh nationally for DUI incidents at 1.7 per 1,000 drivers. North Carolina ranked 19th for speeding incidents.
South Carolina stood out in another category.
The Palmetto State had the second-highest speeding incident rate nationwide, with 3.2 incidents per 1,000 drivers. Only North Dakota ranked worse.
The rankings come from LendingTree’s analysis of tens of millions of QuoteWizard auto insurance inquiries between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31, 2026.
Researchers counted accidents, DUIs, speeding violations and other citations reported through those insurance inquiries. The study therefore measures incidents among people seeking insurance quotes, rather than every licensed driver or every crash reported statewide.
For Charlotte-area motorists, the ranking is unusually close to home: cross the state line from Mecklenburg County into York or Lancaster County, and drivers move from the nation’s No. 2 state to one tied for No. 3.
