Study: California ranks 3rd for worst drivers in the nation

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This may come as no surprise to many who spend long hours commuting in the Bay Area, but a new study ranks California drivers among the worst in the country.

The Golden State came in third tying for that spot with Missouri, in the study by personal finance company SmartAsset.

As part of the study, researchers analyzed the percentage of uninsured drivers, the number of DUIs per driver, the average number of deaths per miles driven, as well as how often residents google terms like "traffic ticket" or "speeding ticket."

California ranked behind only Mississippi named as the number one state with the worst drivers and Tennessee which came in second.

Researchers acknowledged traffic is a big concern in the Bay Area and the Los Angeles metro areas. But they noted, "...there is more to worry about than just the traffic. California ranks 12th for DUIs per thousand drivers and 11th for percent of uninsured drivers."

It should also be noted that figures show the number of fatalities on California roads are relatively low. "California ranks 32nd for number of people killed per 100 million miles driven," the study found.

Year to year, California is quickly moving up in the ranks in the annual worst drivers study.  SmartAsset's 2017 analysis placed the state in 8th place. The year before that, California didn't even make it to the top 10, coming in 17th.