Submitted by Bornbhthegods t3_yd3o18 in springfieldMO
Saltpork545 t1_its01tp wrote
Reply to comment by blitzalchemy in Moving to Springfield by Bornbhthegods
> Most people I know of, have spoken to, or have read about posting on this subreddit have all essentially agreed we have some of the worst drivers in the US
As someone who has spent a lot of time in different states, no, we don't. That's my experience and the experience of most of the people I know in the area long term.
Everyone thinks they have the worst drivers. Everyone. From Atlanta to Portland Maine to small town Idaho.
It's selection bias almost exclusively. You see the bad drivers where you live and work and drive the most. You don't see the bad drivers day in and day out in towns you drive through or visit.
Data reveals something that doesn't match your description.
Missouri isn't even in the top 10 for fatal accidents or accident insurance costs, even adjusted per capita.
https://www.injuryclaimcoach.com/car-accidents-by-state.html
It is not magically worse here than anywhere else in the US. We do not have more bad drivers in our population than other states. None of this is exclusive to Springfield. Literally none of it and saying otherwise is silly. Yes, I minimize because you're not persecuted for living in a small city with small city drivers and traffic.
We do not have exceptionally anything drivers. We just have drivers.
blitzalchemy t1_its20db wrote
Fine lets just agree to disagree, you have your experience, i have mine. Ive spent 1/6th of my life here and every accident has been here. I havent had the necessity to be a hyper defensive driver until i came here, and the daily near misses do not support any of your points. Thats my experience, as well as many others in this sub, you have yours, but dont minimize it and use the boomer mentality of "ive had it worse"
Saltpork545 t1_its3567 wrote
We could also look at more data.
We are the 3rd largest city in the state. Our fatal accident rate is 1.8% of the fatal crashes that happened in MO for 2016-2018.
KC is #2, their rate is 8.88%.
St Louis is #1, their rate is 6.17%.
Columbia is the next smallest, they're rate is 1.08%.
It seems to me that Springfield is right where they should be. It would be different if we, say, also had 8% of the fatal car crashes. So, just judging by fatal car crashes in Missouri, KC is the most dangerous place to be.
This is obviously incomplete data and I'm not finding any good summarized reports of car accidents by county or city because I don't think that data is tracked unless someone is injured, but I could be wrong.
I'm a millennial and 'I've had it worse' isn't what I'm saying at all. I'm saying Springfield isn't exceptional on traffic and never has been. People just get this mindset of 'oh these terrible drivers here are the worst anywhere' and everywhere thinks that about where they live and it's simply false. It's a cognitive bias.
I've seen my share of bad drivers here too. Of course. They exist everywhere. That is my point and always has been my point. We are not any different than Charlottesville or Memphis or Des Moines or whatever other place you can think of. Giving OP some idea that traffic or drivers are magically worse here than where they're coming from is simply false.
blitzalchemy t1_its8ft8 wrote
Ive never once thought wherever I lived had the worse drivers, and again I point to the variety of places I have lived and experienced. Hell, at least people use their blinkers typically in St Louis. I have never thought we had the worst drivers until i moved and lived here for an extended period. Your data only accounts for incidents that happened, but nothing to say for the daily occurrences where the rest of us have to read the mind of the many idiot drivers so we arent involved in the wreck ourselves.
Simply put, at this point I truly do not care. There are many people who would agree that the drivers here are the worst theyve experienced, I would agree to that. However you are not doing yourself any favors here. And obviously not changing my nor anyone elses mind. As for the original point of the post and for the initial comment on here. I feel like we can all agree, treating the drivers here like they are dangerous idiots is for the better. The faster that new implants here learn to be hyper defensive, the better.
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