Few car thefts, low insurance costs make Maine one of the country’s best driving states, site claims

Cars maneuver through an intersection in Portland. (The Forecaster photo by David Harry)

Cars maneuver through an intersection in Portland. (The Forecaster photo by David Harry)

The finance site Bankrate.com used a slew of car-related data to determine which were the best and worst states to be a driver. Specifically, researchers with the website looked at fatal crashes per 100 million miles, car thefts per 100,000 people, vehicle repair costs per job, annual gasoline spending, insurance premiums averaged over five years and average commute times.

While those certainly aren’t the only criteria imaginable in ranking places to drive, it’s a defensible list that takes into consideration many aspects of car ownership.

And how does Maine rate compared to other states?

Pretty well, actually. Bankrate placed Maine No. 6 nationwide, noting that we have the second lowest rate of car thefts (69 per 100,000 people) and the fifth lowest car insurance costs ($673).

Maine also boasted the 10th lowest average repair costs, at just $372 per job, and an average one-way commute time of 23 minutes, which is lower than the national average despite how generally spread-out the state is.

Maine was sandwiched between No. 5 Minnesota and No. 7 Iowa on the Bankrate list. The best state for drivers was determined to be Idaho, thanks in large part to its low gasoline and insurance costs.

The worst state in America for driving based on these criteria was found to be Louisiana, which reportedly has car insurance rates 40 percent higher than the national average and nearly double what drivers pay in Maine.

California, Texas, Maryland and New Jersey rounded out the bottom five on Bankrate’s list.