The Burrow
Feb 1, 2023
Let’s face it: at some point in our lives, we’ve all thought that the city we live in has the worst drivers in the world. We rolled our eyes as someone sped past us, sighed as we’ve seen a car crawling in the fast lane of the motorway, and groaned as we witnessed someone run a red light.
With 1.45 billion vehicles in the world,1 the comprehensive car insurance experts at Compare the Market wanted to see which countries really do have the best and worst drivers. After all, with some countries known for their complex roundabouts, intense levels of traffic, and relaxed driving laws, there are certain places you might think twice about driving in.
To compile our list of best and worst countries, we looked at a variety of factors, including blood alcohol allowance limits, the quality of roads, and the number of deaths caused by road traffic.
So, read on to see where’s home to the world’s worst (and best) drivers, and remember, whether you’re driving at home or abroad, you’ll need to take out car insurance.
It’s official: the world’s safest drivers can be found in Japan! Blood alcohol limit levels are quite low, at 0.03g/dl, similar to the likes of Chile, and the Czech Republic, and it has the highest positive sentiment on social media for driving-related terms, at 33.4%. Not only that, but Japan also has the fourth-highest road quality levels on our list, meaning that overall, it’s a very safe country to not only drive in but also to be a pedestrian.
Eight out of the top 10 safest countries are in Europe, and the Netherlands leads the way in second place – at 6.4, it has the second-highest road quality levels, just behind Singapore at 6.5, and it has some of the lowest levels of traffic injury deaths per 100,000 people, tying with several countries, including Japan, Denmark, and Germany.
Norway makes it into third place, coming in eighth for its traffic index, which means it enjoys low commute times and CO2 consumption levels. It also comes joint top for the fewest traffic injury deaths, at 2 per 100,000 people – the only other countries with such low levels are Singapore and Switzerland. Blood alcohol limits are also the joint third-lowest, at 0.02g/dl.
In fourth place is Estonia, with the third-lowest traffic index levels in the world, and Sweden is in fifth place, with three traffic injury deaths per 100,000 people, and low blood alcohol limits of 0.02g/dl.
Other European countries that made it into our top 10 include Austria, Switzerland, Spain, and Portugal; with Singapore coming in at ninth place.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, Thailand has officially been voted the country with the world’s worst drivers, with the highest number of tragic traffic injury deaths by far, at 32 per 100,000 people.
Peru has come in second-last place, with the highest traffic index score (220.4), and fourth-poorest levels of road quality.
There are several South American countries that feature in the bottom 10, including Argentina in 45th place, and Brazil in 41st. Argentina’s high-speed limit of 130km/h contribute to drivers being seen as less safe, alongside long commute times, and high levels of CO2 emissions.
Similarly, with Brazil, traffic injury deaths are high, at 16 per 100,000 people, and they have the third-lowest levels of road quality on our list.
Lebanon, India, and Malaysia are all in the top five for worst drivers in the world, with the US, Turkey, and Canada all featuring in the top 10, too.
Canada has the second-lowest levels of positive social media sentiment regarding driving at 8.44% – behind Denmark only – whilst Malaysia, the US, Canada, the UK, and Singapore have the highest blood alcohol limit allowances, at 0.08g/dl.
In terms of speed limits, Turkey ties with Poland and Bulgaria for the joint second-highest, at 140km/h – the only country that has a higher limit is the UAE, at 160km/h.
Whenever you’re driving, you should always take precautions to make sure that not only you are safe, but so is everyone else on the road.
A great way to get to see the country that you’re visiting, is by hiring a car, as it means you can visit everywhere you want to, whilst seeing some amazing scenery along the way.
Whilst driving abroad can be daunting, it doesn’t need to be. Simply taking a few extra precautions can help to build your confidence in driving on the roads of foreign lands.
It sounds obvious, but not all of Australia’s road rules will be implemented in every other country, so if you plan on getting behind the wheel while you’re on holiday, have a read of basic rules such as speed limits, and any specific documents you’ll need to take with you on your travels.
There are several cities in Europe, the US, and Africa that have toll roads that you’ll need to pay for. Usually, these roads are better paved, have less traffic, and can get you to your destination faster.
Whilst in most cases, you’ll be able to pay by card once you reach the toll gate, it always helps having some spare change to hand, in case you can only pay in cash, so you don’t have to change your route at the last minute.
Whilst you’ll have domestic car insurance, depending on the T&Cs of your policy, it may not cover you for driving internationally. If this is the case, you’ll need to purchase separate insurance to cover you for a whole range of potential scenarios.
Adrian Taylor, General Manager for General Insurance at Compare the Market Australia stated: “Travelling by car when you’re in a foreign country is a great way to get a feel for the place and discover areas off the beaten track. However, you should always be prepared if you’re planning on getting behind the wheel while you’re on holiday by brushing up on local laws and rules, and taking it slow while you’re on the roads, so you don’t cause an accident.”
Whether you’re driving on foreign roads or across Australia, car insurance is a legal requirement. Browse a range of options using our free car insurance comparison tool, including options such as third-party fire and theft, and roadside assistance.
Remember that car insurance policies can be subject to exclusions, restrictions and limits. Ensure that you check the Product Disclosure Statement of your policy prior to purchasing.
This dataset ranks 50 different countries, based on how good they are to drive in. To do this, 6 different factors were used. Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. The normalised values were then summed, to give each city a total score out of 5. The countries were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores. The factors used are as follows:
The factors were indexed as follows:
When gathering data for the maximum speed limit, there was only a recommended maximum speed limit for German drivers. This was included to provide a clear indexation of the data. Data gathered is correct as of 20/01/23.
The full dataset can be viewed here.