Which state has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers?

Mississippi has the largest population of uninsured drivers. New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York had the lowest percentages of uninsured drivers, with 3.1%, 3.5% and 4.1%, respectively. Mississippi has the highest rate of uninsured motorists, at 29.4%. Among all states, Mississippi has the highest percentage of uninsured drivers, at 29.4%.

It is followed by Michigan (25.5%), Tennessee (23.7%), New Mexico (21.8%) and Washington (21.7%). Overall, 22 states had numbers above the national average, including Florida, Alabama, Arkansas and California. By contrast, New Jersey, which currently has the lowest rates of uninsured motorists in the country, had an 11.8% decline in the number of uninsured drivers; Texas had the largest subsequent decline (5.8%), followed by New Hampshire (3.8%) and Delaware (2.9%). This trend is particularly notable in the ten states with the highest percentages of uninsured drivers.

With such high rates of uninsured motorists, it might be a good idea to consider adding protection against uninsured drivers to your policy. Many uninsured drivers are assigned to their state's “high-risk” group and, as a result, their insurance premiums skyrocket. To determine if the percentage of uninsured drivers in each state is related to that state's median household income, Insurefy data scientists calculated the correlation between the two. Nearly a quarter of Magnolia State motorists drive without insurance, placing the state second in the country among states with the highest proportion of uninsured drivers.

To identify the states with the highest proportion of uninsured drivers, the data science team at Insurefy, a site used to compare car insurance quotes, examined data from the Insurance Information Institute to determine which were the ten states with the highest percentage of uninsured motorists. Under the III, coverage for uninsured drivers, also known as UM, is designed to compensate insured persons when an at-fault driver has no liability insurance or illegally leaves the scene of the accident. Data scientists at Insurefy were curious to identify other factors related to uninsured driver rates by state. There are some key steps you can take to reduce the financial risk of accidents involving uninsured drivers.

Using the most recent data from the Insurance Information Institute, Insurefy data scientists determined which states have the highest percentage of uninsured motorists, based on the relationship between uninsured motorist claims and the frequency of bodily injury claims filed by drivers involved in an accident. The IRC measures the number of uninsured motorists based on insurance claims, using a proportion of insurance claims submitted by people who were injured by uninsured drivers relative to claims filed by people who were injured by insured drivers. Penalties for driving without insurance in Indiana are high, but many drive in the Hoosier state without the protection of car insurance. Washington State has 40% more uninsured drivers than the national average, despite the consequences of driving without insurance.

In New Jersey, uninsured drunk drivers or people who have committed other crimes intentionally are prohibited from filing lawsuits for economic or non-economic reasons (i). This means that in states where the median household income is lower than average, the rates of uninsured motorists tend to be higher than the average, and vice versa.

Carl Somilleda
Carl Somilleda

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