Survey asks "Does NH rule the road?"

While watching a careless driver swerve recklessly from one lane to the next on a highway, I'll bet you've asked yourself, "Are drivers in other states as bad as this guy?" While idly staring at an out-of-state  license plate in front of you as you wait for the light to change, you may think, "That state's plate is uglier (or prettier) than  ours."

Well, just how does New Hampshire stack up against other states on these questions?  Carinsurance.com has come up with the answers.

First, the question of driving safety: how good (or bad) are Granite State drivers?  Car insurance.com ranked the 50 states plus the District of Columbia on fatalities per 100 million miles traveled, citations for failure to obey traffic signals and seat belt laws, drunk driving, and tickets for speeding and careless driving.

The 10 worst states? (Rather than herald trumpets to announce them, these states deserve an annoying chorus of vuvuzelas.) From the worst to the second worst, third worst, and so on, they are in order: Lousiana, South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, Florida, Missouri tied with North Carolina, Montana and North Dakota.

Whew, New Hampshire escaped the bottom 10. And the 10 states with the best drivers? (drum roll, please.) From the best, to second  best, third best, and so on, they are in order: Vermont , Utah, and, here it is, NEW HAMPSHIRE IN THIRD PLACE, Minnesota, Oregon,  Maine, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Iowa and (get this those of you who disparage Bay State drivers) 10th place belongs to Massachusetts.

What do the best drivers have in common? According to CarInsurance.com," Of the 15 states with the best drivers, only 4 ranked in the bottom half for Careless Driving, meaning they were keeping an eye on the road ahead and their surroundings - NOT on their cell phones"(or texting, I might add).

Let's turn our attention next to license plates, which isn't quite as esoteric  a topic as it might seem.  CarInsurance.com ranked the 50 states and District of Columbia in terms of (1) attractiveness of the plate and (2) appeal of the state motto. New Hampshire's license plate was rated fair to middling for attractiveness, claiming 17th place in the rankings. I think the image of the Old Man of the Mountain is so faint on the plate that it tends to be overlooked.

The top 10 license plates for attractiveness were Wyoming (a cowboy on a bucking horse with mountains in the background), then Hawaii (a rainbow), Utah, Alabama, Oregon, Maine, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

The 10 least attractive were Delaware, Arkansas, Michigan, Alaska, Virginia, New York, Montana, District of Columbia, Massachusetts (there you go Mass haters), and  Vermont. It's hard to understand how states with great scenery like Alaska, Montana, and Vermont come up with ugly plates. But there may be a method to some states' madness. If a state has a stark, plain license plate, its drivers may be motivated to buy expensive and more elaborate specialty plates.

A good example is Virginia which has a white plate with black type, no picture, and no motto. Perhaps  not coincidentally, according to a 2007 survey, Virginia  has the highest percentage (17%) of specialty plates.

Also, an appealing license plate motto tends to bring tourists to a state. I told you there was a practical side to license plates. New Hampshire comes into its own, as you might expect, in competition for best motto on the license plate. "Live Free or Die" placed second, being edged out by Alabama ("Sweet Home Alabama").

The remaining top 10 mottos were Hawaii ("Aloha State"), Alaska ("The Last Frontier"), Florida ("Sunshine State"), Texas ("The Lone Star State"), West Virginia ("Wild, Wonderful"), New York ("Empire State"), and Georgia ("Peach State").

What if you don't like the state motto on your license plate? Not surprisingly, given the independent, contrary nature of Granite Staters, a New Hampshire couple challenged the display of "Live Free or Die" on their license plates. In 1977, the Supreme Court ruled that requiring people to display what to them was offensive language on their license plates violated their First Amendment rights to free speech.  Drivers can cover up the art or the motto on their plates, so long as they don't hide the numbers or tags.

Personally, since our motto can be interpreted several different ways, I have no problem with "Live Free or Die." As a frugal and thrifty Granite Stater, I think it means "if I can't get something for free, I'm going to die."

If you would like to read more about the rugged individualists, eccentrics, and, yes, tightwads who populate New Hampshire, may I suggest my new book Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New  Hampshire.

Outtastatahs can be purchased for $13.99 at River Run Books in Portsmouth; at The Water Street Bookstore in Exeter; at Gibson's Bookstore in Concord; or on-line at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.