BMW drivers get more DUIs than owners of other brands

A recent LendingTree study found that Ram drivers were the worst by a large margin, but they didn’t top the list in every category. As it turns out, BMW drivers rack up the most DUIs, and the next closest brand’s drivers aren’t even close.

The study found that BMW drivers picked up 3.13 DUIs per 1,000 drivers, making them almost twice as likely to be cited for the infraction as drivers of the next closest brand. Ram and Subaru were next highest on the list, but their drivers only had 1.72 and 1.45 DUIs per 1,000, respectively.

The 10 vehicle brands with drivers most likely to have DUIs include:

BMW
Ram
Subaru
Dodge
Jeep
Chevrolet
GMC (tied with Ford)
Ford
Honda
Volkswagen

Mitsubishi, Volvo, Mercury, and Kia drivers had the fewest DUIs, and LendingTree noted that only nine of the 30 brands it assessed had DUI rates below 1.00. This study also almost completely kills the “Nissan driver” meme, as the brand ranked 15th in the number of driving incidents list.

LendingTree noted that lousy driving and alcohol offenses can lead to a license suspension or being kicked off your insurance policy. It’s also an excellent way to lose friends and several thousand dollars, but that has nothing to do with your car brand.

BMW drivers missed the other “worst of” category in LendingTree’s study, as Tesla took the top spot for accidents. Its drivers had 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers, more than Ram at 22.76 and Subaru at 20.90.

Interestingly, Mercury drivers were the best overall, along with Pontiac and Saturn, indicating that drivers of defunct American brands drive more carefully than the rest of us.

LendingTree looked at 30 car brands for its assessment and tallied its results based on the number of accidents, DUIs, speeding tickets, and citations. Some brands’ drivers behaved worse in specific states, such as Ram being the worst in Massachusetts and Tesla having the worst overall drivers in 11 other states.