A new study from Lending Tree concludes that Gen Z drivers are the worst on the road and people seem to either be delighted or absolutely enraged by this claim. But Lending Tree says it used empirical evidence, not emotional outrage so many seem to fall back onto when declaring which generation is worst at driving, before coming to its conclusion.
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Among the damning evidence is that Gen Z, which for the study is defined as 18 to 26 years old, had the highest incident rate at 49.07 per 1,000 drivers. Incidents are accidents, DUIs, speeding, and other citations rolled into one figure. There wasn’t even a contest for this dubious award with Millennials coming in second at 25.13. Gen X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation came in at 20.45, 19.44, and 19.05. So much for saying the old people can’t drive.
Gen Z also led the pack when it came to the accident rate, which was 30.25 per 1,000 drivers. Gen X had the best rate at 11.96. But the Silent Generation netted the lowest DUI rate in a big way at 0.26 per 1,000 drivers. And as you probably already guessed, Gen Z had the highest rate at 2.17.
But where Gen Z really shined was driving citations, picking up 23.62 citations per 1,000 drivers. These citations can be for a range of violations like driving without insurance, failing to yield, improper lane usage, etc. They almost doubled Millennials admittedly not good 10.24 citations per 1,000 drivers. And people are really arguing about this one. Some think Gen Z is being unfairly targeted while others say they’re texting and driving and just plain not paying attention while behind the wheel.
We personally know many Gen Z drivers who are flabbergasted at their driving insurance rates. As Lending Tree points out, there are things anyone can do to help keep those rates lower, like not getting citations, driving sober, paying attention while behind the wheel staying at or under the speed limit, not paying bills late (your credit rating impacts your insurance rates), and shopping around for insurance instead of just picking a random carrier and accepting whatever rates they quote.
Acting responsibly, even when the majority of your generation doesn’t, does have its privileges.
Check out the Lending Tree study for yourself here.
Image via Ron Lach
