The world’s safest and most dangerous countries for driving in 2024 have seen little change from the previous year. For the fourth consecutive year, the United States ranks third in the world on Zutobi’s annual list of the most dangerous countries to drive.
Zutobi analyzed countries worldwide based on indicators including motorway speed limits, seat belt compliance, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers, and road traffic death rates to determine the world’s safest and most dangerous countries to drive.
The U.S. is surpassed only by South Africa, which holds the top spot on the list, and Thailand, the second most dangerous country for driving.
The Risk Factors Behind America’s Road Safety Ranking
There are an estimated 14.2 road traffic deaths in the U.S. per 100,000 people compared to a rate of 1.5 in Norway — the country with the lowest road traffic death rate. About 90.4% of front passengers wear a seatbelt.
However, traffic deaths weren’t the only data sets boosting the nation's “danger” level. The U.S. has one of the highest motorway speed limits of all countries, specifically 137 kph or 85.12 mph. Poland and Turkey are the only countries exceeding this limit at 140 kph.
Plus, the U.S. is among the most relaxed countries in their legal limit for BAC, at 0.08%. Other countries with the same BAC limit include the United Kingdom, Guyana, and Malaysia.
The nation does poorly concerned impaired driving, ranking ninth out of 53 countries when it comes to road deaths attributed to alcohol. The U.S. linked 29 traffic deaths to alcohol use compared to just 0.1 in Malaysia, 1.9 in Armenia, and 3.3 in Turkey.
How Do Other Countries Rank Regarding Global Road Safety?
Other countries ranked among the top 10 with the lowest safety score on Zutobi’s list include Argentina, which came in fourth, followed by India, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Ecuador, Turkey, and Peru.
As for the world’s safest countries to drive, Norway is the safest country for driving for the fourth year, while runner-up Iceland ranked in last year’s top five safest countries. Japan rose into the top five countries with the safest roads, up to third place compared to the previous year.
