We're #38! And #7! And #11!
Massachusetts ranked #38 — weighed down, apparently by the condition of its urban roads, 30 percent of which were deemed in poor condition.
On the other metrics Consumer Affairs considered, Massachusetts actually did quite well: Only 6.1 percent or rural roads were considered in poor condition, ahead of most states. And on arguably the most important metric of all, road fatalities, Massachusetts had the second-best score in the country, with only Rhode Island reporting fewer fatalities per 100 million miles driven.
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By Consumer Affairs's reckoning, the best states were Indiana, Alabama, Idaho, Minnesota, and Kansas, in that order. The worst, from the bottom, were New Mexico, Mississippi, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Rhode Island — despite Rhode Island having the lowest fatality rate.
The libertarian-leaning Reason Foundation's highway report
Reason's top 5 were North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia, and Tennessee. Its worst were Alaska, California, Hawaii, Washington, and Louisiana.
Vermont was the 7th best in Consumer Affairs, but the 7th worst in Reason's rankings.
But Vermont was first in the nation in
Their report doesn't claim to reflect safety in the traditional sense, and fatality rates are relegated to a single data point in the methodology. It is, according to the nonprofit, meant to recognize states that are 'eliminating transportation greenhouse gas pollution and improving access to clean transportation.' It does give extra points to states that spend 'highway dollars on rehabilitation and repair, compared with total state spending on highways.'
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Massachusetts is 7th best in this ranking. Wisconsin, despite having one of the lowest fatalities rates in the nation, is among the bottom scorers (#47) in the NRDC ranking. Perhaps it makes sense: accidents do eliminate greenhouse gas pollution, after all.
Here's some other recent state-by-state rankings of roads: a
Basically, all any of these rankings really tell you is what their authors consider important. I would much rather live in a place where I'm less likely to be killed on the roads, even if those roads have lots of potholes and embodied emissions, but that's just me. Your mileage may vary — and rest assured,
Note: Thank you to everyone who responded to last week's newsletter about Tesla. As several readers pointed out, the contact link in the newsletter was incorrect. If you attempted to email me and your email bounced back, please
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