Www.ct.gov



[pic]

Thursday, December 11, 2014

HOT TOPICS:

▪ Tough question: Which state has the worst drivers?

▪ California DMV prepares to issue driver's licenses to people who are in the country illegally

▪ Iowa driver's license app logistics could be tricky

Stories on…

Tough question: Which state has the worst drivers?

USA TODAY

Tough question: Which state has the worst drivers?

Larry Copeland, USA TODAY 11:59 p.m. EST December 10, 2014

They are the perennially-asked but perhaps unanswerable questions: Who has the tastiest pizza? What's the best vacation spot? Which state has the worst drivers?

That last question, especially, seems forever to fascinate and titillate us, and some entity or the other is always trying to answer it.

The latest effort is by the website , a resource for people to compare features of various automobile insurance companies. It ranks states based on a scoring system that includes fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, percentage of fatal crashes that involved failure to obey certain traffic laws, fatal drunken driving crashes, speeding crashes and careless driving collisions.

So, without further ado, here is the map of the top 10 states with the worst drivers:

Drivers in those states can certainly debate whether they're actually the nation's worst. And drivers in some states not in the Worst 10 might argue that they should be.

The rankings () are certain to spur conversation.

"We'll hear from radio stations, talk shows calling us up saying, how do we end up as the worst drivers? What are we doing wrong?" says Tyler Spraul, the website's vice president of public relations. "But usually they have some pretty good stories and they end up agreeing with us on some of the drivers they've seen on their commutes back and forth."

Drivers in the Pelican State must be doing something right: After ranking as the state with the worst drivers in the previous two editions, Louisiana tied with Nevada for sixth this year.

Spraul says the rankings could possibly provide drivers in some states with insight into why their rates might go up or down. Insurers, who use secretive, proprietary formulas to set rates, likely access some of the same data used in the rankings. "They're not going to use the rankings specifically, but they're looking at all the same types of things we look at," he says.

Beyond any such practical considerations, though, Americans love to dicker over where the best drivers live.

Earlier this year, insurer Allstate released its annual "America's Best Drivers Report," which examined the USA's 200 largest cities and provided the definitive answer: Fort Collins, Colo., for the second year in a row. Drivers there average 14.2 years between crashes.

The Allstate rankings are based on average years between crashes and the relative crash likelihood compared to the national average.

Allstate's city with the worst drivers? Worcester, Mass., where drivers average a crash every 4.3 years.

The insurer is careful to include a disclaimer: The report "is produced solely to boost the country's discussion about safe driving and to increase awareness of the importance of being safe and attentive behind the wheel. The report is not used to determine auto insurance rates."

ranks each state in these categories:

Fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled

Failure to Obey – Percentage of fatal crashes that involved traffic signals, not wearing seat belts and driving with an invalid license

Drunken Driving – Percentage of fatal crashes that involved alcohol

Speeding – Percentage of driving fatalities that were speed-related

Careless Driving – Pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities per 100,000 population

The data was translated into a total score, and the worst states received the lowest scores. For example, the state with the highest percentage of drunk driving-related fatalities, Montana, earned 1 point in the category, and the state with the lowest percentage, Kentucky, earned 51 points (the District of Columbia is included in the rankings).

These are the states that received the lowest score in each category:

Fatality rate: 1- South Carolina

Failure to Obey – 1 Oklahoma

Drunken driving: 1 – Montana

Speeding: 1 -- Hawaii

Careless driving: 1 – Delaware



Worst Drivers By State

Do you remember the last time someone cut you off, forcing you to swerve out of the way or slam on the brakes? Maybe this is more of a regular occurrence that you’ve actually found yourself getting used to. What is it that makes a “bad driver” bad, after all? Is it a lead foot, selfishness, carelessness, or all of the above? If you’re living in one of the following states, you might want to be extra careful when you’re out on the road.

We have updated our Worst Drivers statistics with the most recent data that is available, and it’s time to find out, “Which states have the worst drivers?”. Keep in mind that your insurance company could use these kinds of statistics to estimate risk and increase or decrease premiums, depending on location.

Methodology

The rankings for this study are based on statistics made available to the public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Each state is ranked according to the follow categories:

• Fatalities Rate per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled

• Failure to Obey (Percentage of Fatal Crashes that involved Traffic Signals, Not Wearing Seat Belts, and Driving with an Invalid Driver License)

• Drunk Driving (Percentage of Fatal Crashes that Involved Alcohol)

• Speeding (Percentage of Driving Fatalities that were Speed-Related)

• Careless Driving (Pedestrian & Bicyclist Fatalities per 100,000 Population)

We translated all of this information into one Total Score, and the worst states received the lowest scores.

For example, the state with the highest percentage of Drunk Driving-related fatal crashes, Montana, earned just 1 point in this category, and state with the lowest percentage, Kentucky, received a score of 51 (the District of Columbia is included in these rankings). Lower scores mean worse drivers, and those drivers could be driving up your state’s car insurance rates.

Since our previous Ticketing Rate category can widely vary based on different state laws, police enforcement, and city and state safety initiatives, we decided to replace this category with Speeding, which is based on the percentage of fatal crashes in which speed was a factor.

For a complete breakdown, along with the specific sources used for each scoring criteria, click here or you can view the rankings table below. For all media inquiries please email: tyler@

Ten States with the Worst Drivers:

#10) Missouri

Best Ranking Factor: Careless Driving: 25th

Worst Ranking Factor: Speeding: 11th

Missouri landed at #7 in last year’s study, so they’ve made some improvements to move up to being the 10th-worst in the nation. They made significant strides in Failure to Obey (previously ranked 4th-worst, now 21st), but were just outside the top 10 worst states for both Drunk Driving and Speeding.

#9) Oklahoma

Best Ranking Factors: Speeding & Drunk Driving: 32nd

Worst Ranking Factor: Failure to Obey: 1st

Oklahoma, having finished just outside the top 10 for worst drivers last year, finished in the top 10 “worst” for two separate categories (Fatalities Rate and Failure to Obey), carrying them to a 9th place finish this time around. They were the worst offenders in the Failure to Obey category.

#8) Hawaii

Best Ranking Factor: Failure to Obey: 33rd

Worst Ranking Factor: Speeding: 1st

Hawaii did rank in the better half for Failure to Obey, but was #1 for Speeding. Careless Driving was also a problem area, with Hawaii coming in 10th-worst. Slowing down and paying attention to their surrounding will help drivers in Hawaii rank better next time.

#6) Nevada (tie)

Best Ranking Factor: Fatalities Rate: 30th

Worst Ranking Factor: Careless Driving: 8th

Louisiana and Nevada were tied at 77, good enough to share the #6 spot. Nevada has ranked near the bottom 10 in all of our editions of this study, but this year is their worst ranking yet, due to being among the 15 worst states in four out of five categories: Failure to Obey, Drunk Driving, Speeding, and Careless Driving.

#6) Louisiana (tie)

Best Ranking Factor: Speeding: 36th

Worst Ranking Factor: Careless Driving: 4th

Louisiana does have some positives to take away from this year’s study, because they no longer rank as the worst drivers in the U.S. They finished at #1 in both of our previous editions. The key factor could be Louisiana’s Drunk Driving ranking, which has consistently improved each time.

However, they finished in the top 10 worst states in three different categories: Fatalities Rate, Failure to Obey, and Careless Driving. That really brought them down in the rankings, despite being in the top 20 for states with the lowest occurrence of Speeding.

#5) Delaware

Best Ranking Factor: Failure to Obey: 29th

Worst Ranking Factor: Careless Driving: 1st

Delaware followed Louisiana’s example and also landed among the 10 worst states in three categories: Drunk Driving, Speeding, and Careless Driving. Delaware drivers declined significantly from last year in both Failure to Obey and Drunk Driving rankings (dropping 16 and 15 places, respectively), and also dropped to the worst in the nation for Careless Driving.

#4) North Dakota

Best Ranking Factor: Careless Driving: 41st

Worst Ranking Factor: Drunk Driving: 2nd

North Dakota is the first of our “top 10″ to finish among the five worst states in three different categories: Fatalities Rate, Failure to Obey, and Drunk Driving. These low scores really overshadowed their positive ranking for Careless Driving (41st), and brought them down to 4th from their previous 10th place finish.

#3) Texas

Best Ranking Factor: Failure to Obey: 22nd

Worst Ranking Factor: Drunk Driving: 6th

Texas was #4 in our previous edition, and has dropped to #3 due to finishing worse than last year in both Fatalities Rate and Careless Driving rankings. They made improvements in Failure to Obey and Drunk Driving, but it wasn’t enough to keep Texas out of the “top 3″.

#1) South Carolina (tie)

Best Ranking Factor: Failure to Obey: 31st

Worst Ranking Factor: Fatalities Rate: 1st

Montana and South Carolina could not be separated, each one finishing with a total score of 60, a staggering 148 points behind leaders Minnesota. South Carolina finished among the 10 worst states in Fatalities Rate (1st), Drunk Driving (8th), and Careless Driving (5th).

If it’s any consolation, South Carolina showed continued improvement from our previous editions of this study by ranking 8 places better in Failure to Obey than last time. Every little bit counts!

#1) Montana (tie)

Best Ranking Factor: Careless Driving: 44th

Worst Ranking Factor: Drunk Driving: 1st

Although they finished among the 10 states with the lowest occurrence of Careless Driving, Montana drivers were among the 10 worst in all of the remaining categories, dropping 8 positions from their previous 9th-place finish. Where did they go wrong? They maintained their #1 rank for Drunk Driving, and declined in the Failure to Obey category. You could also argue that improvements in other states were a contributing factor to Montana being at the wrong end of the spectrum.

At least Montana drivers can take some solace in sharing the title of “Worst Drivers” with their fellow award winners in South Carolina.

Drunk Driving is a Big Part of the Problem

Every one of our “top 10″ worst states, landed among the 10 worst offenders in the Drunk Driving category. Drinking and driving has serious consequences, and will never be worth it. Alcohol-impaired driving kills 28 people per day.

This is a deadly mistake to make that is easy to avoid. You won’t regret taking a few minutes to plan ahead and having a safe way to get home.

The Worst States tend to have the Most Careless Drivers

Of the 15 worst states, 11 of them were ranked in the bottom half of the table for Careless Driving. “In 2012, 4,743 pedestrians died in traffic crashes – a 6% increase from the number reported in 2011.”

What can you do to make a difference? Start by leaving your cell phone alone while driving. Only 11 states had a ban on talking on a hand-held cell phone while driving in 2012, and 9 states were lacking a ban on texting while driving (Source).

As a driver, building good scanning habits can really make a difference in crash prevention.

Controllables are the Key

The best question we can ask is, “How can we improve?”. Let’s focus on what we can control.

Out of the 20 best states, only 3 were ranked among the top 10 for Failure to Obey, Drunk Driving, and Speeding. These are three factors that are 100% controllable for drivers.

Taking responsibility for yourself in these areas by obeying traffic signals, wearing your seat belt, driving with a valid license, designating a driver who hasn’t been drinking, and operating at safe travel speeds can really make a difference.

There’s so much that you can’t control when you’re out on the road. This means that it’s incredibly important to control what you can and build good defensive driving habits.

Complete Rankings: Worst Drivers

State  |Fatalities Rate per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled |Failure to Obey (Traffic Signals, Seat Belts, & Invalid Driver License)  |Drunk Driving  |Speeding  |Careless Driving  |Total Score  |Rank  | |Alabama |15 |25 |29 |30 |15 |114 |18 | |Alaska |22 |50 |50 |41 |31 |194 |48 | |Arizona |14 |28 |37 |19 |7 |105 |14 | |Arkansas |5 |15 |38 |51 |21 |130 |24 | |California |42 |17 |33 |28 |11 |131 |26 | |Colorado |33 |4 |19 |21 |19 |96 |11 | |Connecticut |48 |47 |11 |47 |37 |190 |47 | |Delaware |21 |29 |10 |9 |1 |70 |5 | |District of Columbia |51 |13 |23 |10 |38 |135 |28 | |Florida |19 |30 |28 |50 |3 |130 |24 | |Georgia |28 |18 |45 |49 |13 |153 |36 | |Hawaii |20 |33 |21 |1 |10 |85 |8 | |Idaho |27 |23 |41 |26 |43 |160 |41 | |Illinois |39 |37 |5 |8 |29 |118 |20 | |Indiana |36 |11 |39 |40 |36 |162 |42 | |Iowa |25 |34 |48 |46 |48 |201 |50 | |Kansas |17 |16 |46 |37 |35 |151 |35 | |Kentucky |6 |2 |51 |44 |30 |133 |27 | |Louisiana |7 |8 |22 |36 |4 |77 |6 | |Maine |26 |14 |12 |3 |47 |102 |13 | |Maryland |41 |51 |15 |12 |20 |139 |29 | |Massachusetts |50 |38 |7 |33 |28 |156 |39 | |Michigan |37 |43 |30 |39 |24 |173 |45 | |Minnesota |49 |36 |36 |42 |45 |208 |51 | |Mississippi |8 |20 |34 |48 |17 |127 |23 | |Missouri |24 |21 |13 |11 |25 |94 |10 | |Montana |3 |7 |1 |5 |44 |60 |1 | |Nebraska |29 |19 |4 |43 |46 |141 |30 | |Nevada |30 |12 |14 |13 |8 |77 |6 | |New Hampshire |43 |44 |40 |18 |50 |195 |49 | |New Jersey |46 |46 |18 |38 |12 |160 |40 | |New Mexico |11 |32 |44 |27 |2 |116 |19 | |New York |40 |39 |17 |31 |16 |143 |31 | |North Carolina |23 |24 |24 |22 |6 |99 |12 | |North Dakota |4 |3 |2 |16 |41 |66 |4 | |Ohio |35 |26 |20 |29 |34 |144 |33 | |Oklahoma |9 |1 |32 |32 |14 |88 |9 | |Oregon |34 |49 |42 |34 |22 |181 |46 | |Pennsylvania |18 |35 |27 |4 |26 |110 |15 | |Rhode Island |44 |48 |3 |2 |49 |146 |34 | |South Carolina |1 |31 |8 |15 |5 |60 |1 | |South Dakota |10 |6 |9 |35 |51 |111 |16 | |Tennessee |13 |27 |25 |45 |33 |143 |31 | |Texas |12 |22 |6 |14 |9 |63 |3 | |Utah |45 |5 |49 |25 |39 |163 |43 | |Vermont |31 |10 |43 |6 |23 |113 |17 | |Virginia |38 |42 |26 |20 |27 |153 |36 | |Washington |47 |41 |31 |17 |32 |168 |44 | |West Virginia |2 |45 |47 |7 |18 |119 |21 | |Wisconsin |32 |9 |16 |23 |42 |122 |22 | |Wyoming |16 |40 |35 |24 |40 |155 |38 | |

Story on…

California DMV prepares to issue driver's licenses to people who are in the country illegally

Los Angeles Times

DMV prepares to issue driver's licenses to people who are here illegally

By Patrick McGreevy

DECEMBER 11, 2014, 4:00 AM | REPORTING FROM SACRAMENTO

Just weeks before California begins to issue driver's licenses to people in the country illegally, the Department of Motor Vehicles has opened four new offices and hired more than 900 additional staffers to help handle the expected flood of applicants..

State officials expect that 1.4 million immigrants who are not lawfully in the country will apply for specially marked licenses during the first three years beginning Jan. 2. An extra $141 million has been budgeted to handle the applications.

"We've been getting ready for over a year," said DMV spokesman Armando Botello. "We are definitely ready."

The agency has opened new offices in Granada Hills; the Orange County city of Stanton; Lompoc, a town in Santa Barbara County; and San Jose.

Applicants can make appointments at any DMV office at or by calling 800-777-0133. The four new offices also accommodate people without appointments.

The DMV is offering extended Saturday hours by appointment for all new license applicants at up to 60 field offices starting Jan. 3. A list of those offices will be made available on the agency's website.

Immigrants were allowed to make appointments for the new year starting Nov. 12. In the 21/2 weeks after that date, 378,891 people made appointments — more than twice the number during the same period last year, according to a DMV spokeswoman.

More than half of the new appointments were for people seeking their first driver's license from the state.

"People are really excited about it," said Rita Medina, a policy advocate for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.

Noting that 71% of people who applied for a new driver authorization card in Nevada this year failed the written exam in the first three days of the program, the coalition is offering classes to help applicants pass the test in California, Medina said.

Applicants will have to complete a form and provide documents to verify their identities and show that they reside in California. They will also be required to provide a thumb print, pass vision and written tests and schedule a behind-the-wheel driving test.

The fee for a license is $33, and those who register a vehicle will have to show proof of insurance, which can be obtained through the California Low Cost Auto Insurance program under a state law passed this year.

The special licenses will look like other California licenses but have the words "federal limits apply" on the front and, "This card is not acceptable for official federal purposes," on the back. They cannot be used as identification to board an airplane, for example.

Immigrant-rights advocates fought to minimize the design differences for fear that landlords, merchants and others who may be presented with the cards might discriminate against those they can see are in the country illegally.

The law allowing the special licenses was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in October 2013. "No longer are undocumented people in the shadows," Brown said then.

Most Republicans in the Legislature had voted against the measure.

"We heard from Californians with a variety of concerns around this new law, including costs to taxpayers for the program that have been estimated in the millions just to get it started in January," Amanda Fulkerson, a spokeswoman for the Assembly Republican Caucus, said this week.

Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville), chairman of the California Legislative Latino Caucus and the measure's author, has argued from the beginning that it would make California roads safer by requiring immigrants who are already driving to pass written and road-skill tests.

"Our state is getting ready to offer these families a chance to get to work, a chance to bring their children to school and a chance at making it to the hospital during medical emergencies by allowing undocumented Californians to earn a driver's license," Alejo said this week.

In New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez has sought for years to repeal a 2003 law allowing driver's licenses to be issued to residents without regard to immigration status. She has maintained that immigrants from other states have poured into New Mexico to obtain licenses fraudulently.

California officials say they have safeguards in place here to prevent fraud, including the requirement that immigrants document their residency. In addition, the special licenses will have the same high-tech features that have protected regular licenses from counterfeit and altering since 2010.

Those include images visible only under ultraviolet light and special laser perforations.

More information on the license requirement and study materials is available on the DMV website.

Story on…

Iowa driver's license app logistics could be tricky



Driver's license app logistics could be tricky

Jason Noble, 6:56 p.m. CST December 9, 2014

The Iowa Department of Transportation's plan to provide cellphone-based driver licenses may be a logical step in an increasingly digital world, but will it be one motorists actually want to take?

At least in the short term, officials and attorneys aren't sure.

The DOT revealed Monday that it's developing a secure mobile app that would contain all the information found on a plastic license along with a scannable bar code linked directly to DOT databases, ensuring the data are verified and up-to-date.

But how the app would be used in practice presents questions and challenges that may slow or complicate Iowans' adoption of the new technology.

In the case of a traffic stop, spokesmen for the Iowa State Patrol and Des Moines Police Department both said bar codes contained in the mobile app would have to be scanned using hardware that's inside an officer's cruiser.

Drivers therefore would have to hand over their phones to an officer and allow the officer to take it back to the cruiser, noted West Des Moines defense attorney Nicholas Sarcone. That raises all kinds of questions.

What if drivers wish to use the phone to record their interactions with the police officer? What if they want to make a call or send a text during the traffic stop — perhaps to a lawyer? What if the phone has a lock mechanism that would lock officers out before they are able to scan the license bar code?

And what of the pitfalls inherent in storing critical data on an electronic device? What if the phone's battery is dead — or dies in the midst of the traffic stop? What if the screen is cracked in a way that makes the bar code unreadable?

"There are so many logistical problems because of the differences in cellphones and the way people maintain their cellphones," Sarcone said.

Hand-held scanners or other devices that allow police to extract license information while the cellphone remains in the driver's possession are certainly possible and may become common, officials said, but they would represent a cost and procedural transition for agencies.

While the logistics are murky at this stage, attorneys surveyed this week generally downplayed the potential for civil liberty concerns associated with digital licenses.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that searches of mobile phones require a warrant, meaning police cannot simply take a driver's phone and scroll through the contacts, photos or text messages looking for incriminating material.

If a driver handed over his phone for the purpose of providing license information, he or she presumably would be granting permission only for the officer to access the DOT-provided license app, attorneys said. Without consent, the police could not snoop into the driver's text messages or photos.

"Anytime they expand the scope of the search beyond the scope of consent, then they would be running into Fourth Amendment problems," Des Moines defense attorney Gary Dickey said.

But here's another hypothetical: What if a text message arrives while the officer possesses the phone?

"I see the greater potential for harm coming from purely accidental circumstances, where the police officer has to open the license and by mistake comes across something they shouldn't come across," Sarcone said. "In theory, it's a really cool idea. The thought of having my license on my phone is great, but it can be a problem."

The DOT will have an opportunity to explore these issues during an extended testing phase, Director of Motor Vehicles Mark Lowe said Tuesday.

DOT and other state employees will try out the app over a period of months in 2015, after which it will be tweaked and upgraded based on their experiences, he said.

"It's more like 2016 that we're actually giving putting them in the hands of Iowa customers," Lowe said.

And even when the digital license is available, of course, it will be optional — drivers may still choose to obtain and carry a traditional plastic card.[pic][pic]

-----------------------

Department of Motor Vehicles

60 State Street

Wethersfield, CT. 06161

Corporate and Public Relations

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download