Kentucky has some great drivers, and some not so great drivers. I’m sure at some point we all feel like our community has the worst drivers in the state. Like myself, you might be correct, depending on where you live. This article is all about Kentucky’s worse drivers, or those who suffer an extremely high number of accident related coincidences. I decided to focus on cities containing 10,000 to 19,999 residents, with the exclusion of Louisville and Lexington, our two largest cities. The data was provided by a University of Kentucky study based on 5+ years of research collected by state police and other law enforcement offices.
Here are Kentucky’s 12 highest accident rated cities:
- Louisville 121,494 accidents 40.7%.
Aguirian Law This is the largest city in the Bluegrass State with over 600,000 residents, double Lexington’s citizenship. The only reason it rated 2% lower than Lexington. I do not believe a day goes by that there aren’t multiple accidents in this city.
- Lexington 60,540 accidents 40.9%.
Car Accident Daily Lexington was mentioned, because like Louisville, it’s the 2nd largest city, and having over 60,000 accidents a year makes driving a challenge.
10 Somerset 3953 accidents 70.6%.
Somerset There are a variety of reasons Somerset is a wonderful place to call home, but the percentage of driver accidents are not among them. Walking is likely safer than pulling out onto the street in some areas.
- Newport 4486 accidents 58.7%.
wlwt Home to the Newport Aquarium, a popular tourist attraction, could be a contributing factor to the over 50% percent accident rate here. Not even the carriages are safe.
- Bardstown 3134 accidents 53.6%.
Car Accident Everyday Bardstown is a beautifully historic city, so its not hard to see people becoming distracted by bits of history. It’s also the home to quite a few Bourbon Distilleries and tourist attractions, but I dare not say bourbon influenced any of these 53.6%.
- Shepherdsville 2843 accidents 50.7%.
Toledo Blades This was once a small town, but it has grown over the years, as has the frequency of automobile accidents. Possibly the worst accident involved a train.
- Shively 3838 accidents 50.3%.
WDRB This is part of the infamous wide, wide Dixie Highway, and it is a well known magnet for accidents. Some people blame the multiple lanes, other say lights often malfunction, drunk drivers, teen drivers, texting drivers, and more are to blame.
- Danville 3444 accidents 42.5%.
WKYT This seemingly sleepy little town has a much higher number of accidents then one would expect. I was somewhat surprised.
- Erlanger 3720 accidents 41.1%.
Accident in Us Erlanger has a great community and a thriving farmers market. However, it does have a relatively high accident percentage as well.
- Madisonville 3979 accidents 40.6%.
Surfky This is a thriving community with an abundance of beauty, businesses, and down home flavor. The positives outweigh the negatives here, despite the accident numbers.
- Shelbyville 2801 accidents 39.9%.
WKYT Shelby County is a relatively serene place to call home with an exciting flea market and plenty of undeveloped countryside. There’s a lot of wild life that roams the area, so perhaps that’s why they have close to a 40% accident rate.
- Glasgow 2751 accidents 39.2%.
Glasgow Glasgow is a pretty good size community that offers a lot of small town flavor. It has some interesting places, like Anne’s Greek Restaurant that actually serves Italian food. It’s also home to Barren River, which offers all types of excitement. The accident ratings did not include boating incidents.
Here are the charts if your curious abut the rest of our cities, including the formula used for acquiring the data.
Aguirian Law
This is the largest city in the Bluegrass State with over 600,000 residents, double Lexington’s citizenship. The only reason it rated 2% lower than Lexington. I do not believe a day goes by that there aren’t multiple accidents in this city.
Car Accident Daily
Lexington was mentioned, because like Louisville, it’s the 2nd largest city, and having over 60,000 accidents a year makes driving a challenge.
Somerset
There are a variety of reasons Somerset is a wonderful place to call home, but the percentage of driver accidents are not among them. Walking is likely safer than pulling out onto the street in some areas.
wlwt
Home to the Newport Aquarium, a popular tourist attraction, could be a contributing factor to the over 50% percent accident rate here. Not even the carriages are safe.
Car Accident Everyday
Bardstown is a beautifully historic city, so its not hard to see people becoming distracted by bits of history. It’s also the home to quite a few Bourbon Distilleries and tourist attractions, but I dare not say bourbon influenced any of these 53.6%.
Toledo Blades
This was once a small town, but it has grown over the years, as has the frequency of automobile accidents. Possibly the worst accident involved a train.
WDRB
This is part of the infamous wide, wide Dixie Highway, and it is a well known magnet for accidents. Some people blame the multiple lanes, other say lights often malfunction, drunk drivers, teen drivers, texting drivers, and more are to blame.
WKYT
This seemingly sleepy little town has a much higher number of accidents then one would expect. I was somewhat surprised.
Accident in Us
Erlanger has a great community and a thriving farmers market. However, it does have a relatively high accident percentage as well.
Surfky
This is a thriving community with an abundance of beauty, businesses, and down home flavor. The positives outweigh the negatives here, despite the accident numbers.
Shelby County is a relatively serene place to call home with an exciting flea market and plenty of undeveloped countryside. There’s a lot of wild life that roams the area, so perhaps that’s why they have close to a 40% accident rate.
Glasgow
Glasgow is a pretty good size community that offers a lot of small town flavor. It has some interesting places, like Anne’s Greek Restaurant that actually serves Italian food. It’s also home to Barren River, which offers all types of excitement. The accident ratings did not include boating incidents.
Formula used for data.
Accidents in cities with under 20,000 residents.
City accident rate and population.
The total crash percentages.
If you live in one of these places and wondered why your insurance was high, now you know. If you have a great rate, you are among the fortunate, count your blessings. If your city wasn’t listed, it likely rated well, or was in a different population bracket. Not all accidents are because of a human error, some are machinery malfunctions, road hazards, and more. If you think your community has an unusually high accident range, or are proud of a low percentage of accidents, please comment.
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