Having a car gives you a certain amount of freedom, the ability to travel huge distances, and get from A to B in a much quicker time than walking. Well, that’s the theory, anyway. The reality for many urban dwellers is, of course, that driving can be a complete nightmare in certain cities.
Not only does it impact your ability to get to and from work, attend business meetings, and even just drop the kids off at school, but there are many other irritations involved. As you can see over at cheapautoinsurance.co, living in different cities and states can have a huge impact on your insurance costs. You are more likely to have a crash in highly built up areas, too. And, of course, your chances of losing your car to theft increase when you are in an urban environment.
But the big question for today is, which cities are the worst for driving? Hopefully after reading this guide, you will have a little more knowledge about the main places in the country to avoid. Public transport might be a pain, but it is a soothing companion in comparison to driving a car in these nightmare cities!
Table of Contents
Los Angeles
If you have ever been to LA, you won’t be surprised to hear it is currently the worst US city for traffic congestion. According to forbes.com, drivers in Los Angeles spend around 34 percent more time traveling the same distance as the average US city. That figure even includes using the highways, which is a good indicator of how bad it can get.
San Francisco
Given the hilly nature of San Francisco and its integral importance to the east coast, you don’t want to get stuck in a jam in this otherwise brilliant city. You can expect to spend anything up to 33 percent more time on the roads at peak times, thanks largely to the enormous amounts of business vehicles making deliveries and people trying gamely to get to work by car.
New York
It should come as no surprise to hear that New York is on our list. Time.com reckon the majority of New York residents don‘t even own a car, and New Yorkers are more likely than any other community in the country to use public transport. It’s not much of a surprise if you have ever seen the incredible volume of traffic on the Big Apple’s streets these days – and with almost 8.5 million people living in such a relatively small area, it’s easy to see how so much congestion occurs.
Seattle
Commuting to and from Seattle? You might want to consider using public transport from now on, given that commuters an add well over a quarter of the average journey time during peak times. Everything from the city center streets to the West Seattle Viaduct are often devilishly slow.
New Orleans
Finally, we’ll have to give New Orleans a bit of a break as the great city is still recovering from the devastating hurricane from a few years ago. That said, if you intend to drive there for business or pleasure at a busy hour of the day, make sure you add a quarter of your expected journey time.
