If you are a licensed driver, statistics say you spend about 48 minutes a day driving a car—more than 10,000 miles a year. But depending on where you live, that driving experience can be entirely different. Which is the most popular car in your state? Where are drivers the drunkest? What are the most beautiful roads and bizarro roadside attractions? Take a digital road trip through every state in America.
The United States of Motoring
ALABAMA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Cheap gas: $2.09/gallon, among the cheapest in the country.
Must-see for gearheads: Birmingham’s Barber Motorsports Museum boasts the world’s largest collection of motorcycles.
Most scenic drive: The Coastal Connection of Alabama’s National Scenic Byway, which snakes along the sea connecting Florida to Mississippi.
Selfie stop: The world’s largest office chair (33 ft. high), which sits outside Miller’s Office Furniture in Anniston. It’s not for sale.
ALASKA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.82/gallon, the nation’s fourth highest (behind California, Washington and Hawaii).
Cold (and) sober: Alaska’s drivers rank well (46th out of 50) on a drunk-driving statistical survey.
No bobsled required: Barrow, Alaska is the northernmost town in the U.S.; pizza delivery by car is available.
Plenty o’ parks: Alaska boasts 24 national parks, second only to California’s 28.
Selfie stop: The 42-ft.-tall Santa statue in the town of North Pole (which, in fact, is miles from the real North Pole).
Giant Santa Claus statue at Santaland in North Pole, Alaska. (Credit: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)
ARIZONA
Most popular new vehicle: GMC Sierra 1500 pickup.
Favorite fast food: In-N-Out Burger.
Sunny rides: According to one study, Arizonians prefer their cars yellow over any other color.
Most scenic ride: The Desert View Drive, which follows the South Rim of the Grand Canyon for 25 miles.
Worth a detour: The Titan Missile Museum in Sahuarita, a missile-silo-turned-museum dedicated to one of the world’s largest nuclear weapons.
ARKANSAS
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Proceed with caution: Arkansas’s the fifth-most dangerous state for drivers, with 1.52 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Most beautiful road: Scenic Byway 7, which winds through the Ouachita Mountains (known for quartz crystals), past DeGray Lake and Hot Springs National Park, then into Ozark National Forest.
Road-trip playlist: Anything by local boy Johnny Cash.
CALIFORNIA
Most popular new car: Honda Civic.
Average gas price: $2.96/gallon, the nation’s second-highest, behind Hawaii.
Gridlock alert: The nation’s most populous state experiences the most road traffic (24 billion miles driven in January 2017); and it’s home to the first- and third-worst traffic cities in America: Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Most scenic drive: The Pacific Coast Highway, carving through Malibu, Big Sur, past Hearst Castle, through Monterey to the Golden Gate Bridge and beyond.
Pass the popcorn: Ranks fourth among states with 44 drive-in movie screens.
Highway One along the coastline of Big Sur. (Credit: Mint Images/Frans Lanting/Getty Images)
COLORADO
Most popular new vehicle: Subaru Outback.
A driver’s drive: The “Million Dollar Highway,” one America’s most beautiful and dangerous roads, winding along cliff ledges, often with no guardrails, from Silverton to Ouray. Also: Mount Evans Byway—at 14,130 feet elevation, the highest paved road in the country.
Plenty o’ parks: This state has 13 National Parks including Dinosaur National Monument, where you can see more than 1,500 dinosaur fossils.
Bizarre roadside attraction: The Alferd Packer Cannibal Massacre site in Lake City, where you can (ba-da-dum) “sink your teeth into history.”
Dinosaur National Monument. (Credit: Zachary Frank/Alamy Stock Photo)
CONNECTICUT
Most popular new vehicle: Nissan Rogue.
Safer than most: 0.84 deaths per million vehicle miles traveled, considerably below the national average of 1.13.
Greenies: Statistically, Connecticut car buyers prefer green paint, and the state ranks high in electric-car usage.
Most scenic drive: Route 128 over Connecticut’s famed red-painted West Cornwall Covered Bridge.
Bizarre roadside attraction: The Chapel of Our Lady of the Assumption in Mystic, where the actual mummified human arm of the Archbishop of Canterbury—who died in 1246 in France—is on display.
DELAWARE
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
Proceed with caution: A recent study ranked Delaware fifth among states with the worst drivers and third among states for most careless driving.
Nix the popcorn: One of the few states without a single drive-in movie screen.
Selfie stop: A giant roadside doctor’s house-call bag in Newark, complete with mega-stethoscope.
FLORIDA
Most popular new vehicle: Toyota Corolla.
Out and about: Drivers in Florida motored well over 18 billion miles in January 2017, more than any other state except California and Texas.
Proceed with caution: One recent study ranked Florida the worst in the nation for bad drivers, while another ranked the state second worst (after Louisiana) for distracted drivers using their cellphones; its 1.42 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled is among the highest in the nation.
Most scenic drive: The Overseas Highway, over 100 miles stretching through a tropical archipelago to Key West.
Selfie stop: Pose inside the teeth of “Swampy,” the 200-foot-long alligator-shaped entrance to the Jungle Adventures attraction in Christmas, Florida.
Overseas Highway. (Credit: Yvon Maurice/Getty Images)
GEORGIA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Ease up on the gas: Georgia’s “Super Speeder Law” is one of the country’s toughest.
Most scenic drive: The Russell-Brasstown Scenic Byway through the Chattahoochee National Forest, past Brasstown Bald, the highest mountain in Georgia.
Road-trip playlist: Home-state music stars include The Allman Brothers Band, the Black Crowes, Trisha Yearwood, R.E.M., the B-52s, Outkast, Usher and Ludacris.
HAWAII
Most popular new vehicle: Toyota Tacoma pickup.
Priciest gas: $3.06 per gallon, the highest in the nation.
Among the safest: 0.91 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, considerably below the national average of 1.13.
Most popular fast food: Zippy’s, a local chain where you’ll find American, Japanese, Chinese and Hawaiian cuisines, all on one menu, 24/7.
Most scenic drive: While it attracts crowds of tourists, the Road to Hana on the island of Maui is all it’s cracked up to be.
Wailuaiki Falls on the road through the rainforest to Hana. (Credit: Bill Brooks/Alamy Stock Photo)
IDAHO
Most popular new car: Ford F-150 pickup.
Lead feet welcome: Idaho is one of a handful of states with 80-mph speed limits. Only Texas highways are faster.
Beware the boozers: A recent study ranked Idaho third worst for dangerous drunk drivers.
Most scenic drives: Sawtooth Scenic Byway, winding through the Sawtooth National Forest past some 300 alpine lakes; and Hells Canyon Scenic Byway, which features miles of views of the canyon that divides Idaho from Oregon.
Selfie stop: The Spud Drive In, in Driggs, featuring a mock potato nearly the size of a Volkswagen.
ILLINOIS
Most popular new vehicle: Honda CR-V.
Among the safest: 0.95 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, considerably below the national average of 1.13.
Get your kicks: Illinois is the launching point for the mother of all American roads—Route 66, which winds out of Chicago all the way to the California coast.
Most scenic drive: The Meeting of the Great Rivers National Scenic Byway, where the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois Rivers merge, near the town of Alton.
Land o’ large: In the little town of Casey, you’ll find the biggest rocking chair (56 ft. high), pitchfork (61 ft. long), golf tee (30 ft., 9 in. high) and mailbox (5,743.41 cubic ft., you can climb inside with a group!). All are Guinness Book-certified.
World’s Largest Mailbox. (Credit: J.G.Park/Flickr Creative Commons/CC BY-NC 2.0)
INDIANA
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
All hail the brickyard: The nation’s speed mecca is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which held the first Indy 500 106 years ago.
Most scenic drive: Along the Indiana Dunes, the sandy southern coast of Lake Michigan.
Worth a detour: The John Dillinger Museum in Crown Point, dedicated to Indiana’s most famed gangster.
IOWA
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
Safer than most: 0.96 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well under the national average of 1.13.
Must-see for gear heads: The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville.
Most scenic drive: The Covered Bridges of Madison County, the real bridges after which the famous novel and Clint Eastwood movie were named.
Obsession alert: The Cabbage Patch Fantasy Land Museum in Griswold exhibits more than 3,000 “babies” (don’t call them dolls!) and accessories.
KANSAS
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.22/gallon, 13 cents less than the national average.
Most scenic drive: The 63-mile Glacial Hills Scenic Byway. Follow in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark along the Missouri River through Atchison, Troy and White Cloud.
Worth a detour: The Evel Knievel Museum in Topeka, which held its grand opening this summer, celebrating all things Evel.
Eyes to the sky: Kansas ranks second only to Texas in tornado frequency.
KENTUCKY
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Must-see for gear heads: The Bowling Green Assembly Plant, where General Motors has assembled every Corvette since 1981. Tour the factory and the National Corvette Museum.
Proceed with caution: 1.56 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well above the national average of 1.13.
Best road trip: Along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, through the heart of America’s most famed booze country.
The National Corvette Museum. (Credit: Walter Bibikow/Getty Images)
LOUISIANA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.16/gallon, 19 cents below the national average.
Proceed with caution: In a recent study, Louisiana had the highest percentage of drivers distracted by their cell phones; and the state’s 1.51 road deaths per million vehicle miles traveled is well above the national average of 1.13.
Visit, but don’t stay: The Louisiana State Penitentiary Museum (Angola), exploring the history of what is still one of the nation’s most dangerous prisons.
MAINE
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
Foodie drive: The Maine seafood road trip, from Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery (on the border of New Hampshire) 225 miles to Beal’s Lobster Pier near Bar Harbor.
Most scenic drives: Through Acadia National Park, on Mount Desert Island. Bonus: the Seal Cove Auto Museum on the island features a collection of some of the earliest automobiles.
Bizarre roadside attraction: International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, featuring strange animals and monsters, including preserved hair from abominable snowmen and Bigfoot, and fecal matter from a yeti.
MARYLAND
Most popular new vehicle: Honda CR-V SUV. The state also ranks higher than the national average for electric-vehicle usage.
Metro blues: A good chunk of Maryland is a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., which boasts the second-worst traffic in America.
Safer than most: 0.89 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well below the national average of 1.13.
Worth a detour: Geppi’s Entertainment Museum in Baltimore, chronicling the history of pop culture through comic books, cereal boxes, video games and more.
Selfie stop: A 34-ft.-tall giant yellow crash dummy stands outside the Maryland Motor Vehicles Administration in Glen Burnie.
Traffic on the Washington DC Beltway. (Credit: WorldFoto/Alamy Stock Photo)
MASSACHUSETTS
Most popular new vehicle: Toyota RAV4 SUV.
First in safety: 0.52 deaths per million vehicle miles traveled, making this state the safest in the nation for drivers.
Worth a detour: The Museum of Bad Art (MOBA) in Somerville, billed as “the world’s only museum dedicated to…bad art in all its forms.”
Most scenic drive: Beach Road in Martha’s Vineyard, over Jaws Bridge, a highly recognizable film location from the film “Jaws.”
MICHIGAN
Best-selling new vehicle in the auto industry’s home state: Ford Escape.
Safer than most: 0.98 deaths per million vehicle miles traveled, under the national average of 1.13.
Most scenic drive: The M-22 through Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The town of Arcadia boasts arguably the most beautiful beach in the Midwest.
Must-see for motor heads: The Henry Ford Museum in Ford’s hometown of Dearborn is everything you would hope it would be.
Worth a detour: The American Museum of Magic in Marshall, possibly the world’s largest collection of magic memorabilia.
MINNESOTA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Among the safest: A top safety state for drivers, with 0.72 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. It recently ranked second-best among states in a distracted-driving survey, and fourth-best in a recent drunk-driving study.
Bizarre roadside attractions: One of the world’s largest Paul Bunyan statues, in Akeley, a 17,400-lb. ball of twine, in Darwin, and a Spam museum celebrating Hormel’s spiced pork in a can, in Austin.
Keep that de-icer handy: Minneapolis/St. Paul is the coldest major city in the U.S., according to the Weather Channel.
Road-trip playlist: Anything by Bob Dylan, who grew up in Hibbing, where he was known as Robert Zimmerman.
Pau Bunyan Statue. (Credit: Phil Schermeister/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images)
MISSISSIPPI
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Cheap gas: $2.09/gallon, 26 cents below the national average and among the cheapest in the nation.
Proceed with caution: Ranks as one of the most dangerous driving states, with 1.7 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (well over the national average of 1.13). Recent studies have named Mississippi drivers the nation’s second-worst overall, and the fourth-worst in terms of cell-phone distraction.
Music lovers’ road trip: Highway 61 (also called Blues Alley) from Memphis into the Mississippi Delta, where you can walk in the footsteps of Muddy Waters and B.B. King into some of the country’s most authentic juke joints.
MISSOURI
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.17/gallon, 18 cents less than the national average.
Worth a detour: The Bonne Terre Mine in the town of Bonne Terre, featuring the world’s largest freshwater scuba resort, in an underground lake (it used to be a mine) that’s illuminated with 500,000 watts of lighting.
Bring your appetite: According to a panel of CNN Travel food experts, Kansas City, Missouri, is the second best town in America to eat meat. (The city is “meatarded,” says CNN.)
MONTANA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Proceed with caution: Ranks second nationwide for dangerous drivers (behind South Carolina), with 1.81 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, and second highest in drunk driving, according to a recent study.
Lead-foot friendly: One of the few states with 80-mph speed limits. Only Texas highways are faster.
Most scenic drive: The Going-to-the-Sun-Road in Glacier National Park.
Must-see for gear heads and architects: The Montana Auto Museum, at the Old Montana Prison Complex. The building is as cool as the cars.
NEBRASKA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Selfie stop: Carhenge, in Alliance—a lifesize Stonehenge replica built out of 39 junked cars.
Most scenic drive: The Lewis & Clark Scenic Byway, along the Missouri River from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sioux City, Iowa.
Fuel up: At $2.33/gallon, gas prices in this state almost exactly mirror the national average.
Carhenge. (Credit: Joel Sartore/Getty Images)
NEVADA
Most popular new vehicle: Toyota RAV4.
Lead-foot friendly: This year, Nevada joined the small number of states with 80-mph Interstate speed limits. Only Texas highways are faster.
Average gas price: $2.63/gallon, among the highest in the nation.
Foodie road trip: The tiny desert towns of Elko, Winnemucca, and Gardnerville are meccas for Basque cuisine. Try the pork chops at the Star Hotel in Elko.
Must-see for gear heads: The National Automobile Museum (the Harrah Collection) in Reno, one of the world’s most iconic auto collections. Also: Liberace’s sequined cars went on display last year at the Hollywood Cars Museum in Vegas.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
Most scenic drive: The Kancamagus Highway, 34.5 miles through mountain peaks and waterfalls in the White Mountain National Forest.
Worth a detour: Clark’s Trading Post, a roadside attraction where live bears perform tricks and drink out of “bear cans.”
Must-see for gear heads: The Loudon Classic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the nation’s longest-running motorcycle race.
NEW JERSEY
Most popular new vehicle: Honda CR-V. This state also ranks high in electric-vehicle usage.
Average gas price: $2.43/gallon, 12 cents more than the national average.
Safe and sober: With 0.75 road deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, this state ranks among the safest for drivers.
Most popular fast food: Wendy’s.
Most bizarre scenic drive: The Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City. Jimmy Hoffa is rumored to be buried in the swamp below. One NJ.com journalist recently said of it: “The Skyway is the state's grittiest, most glorious sight. And quite a ride.”
NEW MEXICO
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.24/gallon, 11 cents less than the national average.
Most popular fast food: Sonic Drive-In.
Conspiracy-theory side trip: The International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, marking the place of history’s most famous UFO siting (1947).
Pack the Mylanta: Hatch, near the Mexican border, is the “chili capital of the world.” Go in September for the Hatch Valley Chili Festival.
Exhibit at the UFO Museum. (Credit: Efrain Padro/Alamy Stock Photo)
NEW YORK
Most popular new car: Nissan Rogue.
Average gas price: $2.48/gallon, 13 cents more than the national average.
Gridlock alert: New York City has the second-worst traffic of any city in the U.S., behind Los Angeles.
Pass the popcorn: This state takes the Oscar for most drive-in movie theaters, with 50 working screens.
Must-see for gear heads: The Motorcyclepedia Museum in Newburgh, with famous movie bikes, Walls of Death circus bikes, a bike from JFK’s motorcade on November 22, 1963 and the biggest collection of Indian motorcycles in the world.
NORTH CAROLINA
Most popular new vehicle: Honda Accord.
Average gas price: $2.19/gallon, 17 cents under the national average.
Speed central: The Charlotte Motor Speedway and Nascar’s Hall of Fame make this state an epicenter for American stock-car racing.
Most scenic drive: The Blue Ridge Parkway (through the Blue Ridge Mountains), 469 miles of iconic American pavement, snaking through Virginia and North Carolina.
Selfie stops: Largest chest of drawers (36 ft. tall, in High Point) and the largest Duncan Phyfe chair (30 ft. tall, in Thomasville).
NORTH DAKOTA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.31/gallon, almost exactly the national average.
Beware the boozers: Here live the drunkest drivers in the country, according to a study by Car Insurance Comparison.
Worth a detour: The Enchanted Highway, 32 miles of two-lane road lined by some of the world’s largest scrap-metal sculptures.
Sculpture along the Enchanted Highway. (Credit:Danita Delimont/Alamy Stock Photo)
OHIO
Most popular new vehicle: Honda Civic.
Cheap wheels: Ohioans spend the least on buying their cars, compared to any other state, an average of $17,453.
Selfie stops: The world’s largest basket (208 ft. x 142 ft.) in Newark, and the world’s oldest traffic light (1932) in Ashville.
Must-see for gear heads: The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, in Dayton. Every military plane you can imagine and then some, plus a collection of presidential aircraft that carried chief execs from Truman and Kennedy to Nixon and Clinton.
OKLAHOMA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Cheap gas: $2.14/gallon, 21 cents cheaper than the national average.
Proceed with caution: 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well over the national average of 1.13.
Most scenic drive: The Wichita Mountains Scenic Byway looks more like Colorado than Oklahoma. Keep an eye out for buffalo, elk, prairie dogs and armadillo.
Worth a shot: The J.M. Davis Arms & Historical Museum, the world’s largest privately-owned gun collection.
OREGON
Most popular new vehicle: Subaru Outback.
Pricey gas: $2.68/gallon, 33 cents above the national average, and among the highest in the nation.
Bucket-list road trip: Coastal route 101 from Gold Beach to Brookings. Frommers: “No other stretch of U.S. 101 along the Oregon coast is more breathtaking.”
Greenies: Oregon ranks high in electrical-vehicle usage, and car buyers prefer green paint.
Bring your skis: Mount Hood is the only real year-round ski destination in the nation.
Bizarre roadside attraction: The Grant County Historical Museum in Canyon City, which features two-headed cows and the skulls of the first two criminals hung in Grant County.
Cape Sebastian along Route 101. (Credit: Owaki-Kulla/Getty Images)
PENNSYLVANIA
Most popular new vehicle: Honda CR-V.
Average gas price: $2.57/gallon, 22 cents more than the national average.
Local motoring hero: Mario Andretti, born in Italy, settled in Nazareth, Pennsylvania in 1955 before becoming the most successful racing driver of all time.
Bizarre side trip: The Mutter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Think medical and macabre, with a giant actual human “megacolon” on display.
RHODE ISLAND
Most popular new vehicle: Toyota’s RAV4. Rhode Island also ranks high in electric-vehicle usage.
Among the safest: This state ranks second only to Massachusetts for safe drivers, with 0.57 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Most scenic drive: Route 138 from Newport over the bridge to Jamestown, then down the 1A to Narrangansett. New England at its most picturesque.
Worth a detour: St. Ann Roman Catholic Church, a.k.a. “The Sistine Chapel of Woonsocket.” It’s full of frescoes painted by Guido Nincheri, described by the New England Historical Society as a “devout hunchback [who] was knighted by Pope Pius XI as one of the great artists of the Catholic Church.” He painted into the imagery nearly 500 pictures of parishioners, including a bank teller who was immortalized as 40 different angels.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Cheapest gas: $2.09/gallon, cheapest in the nation.
Danger ahead: South Carolina’s roads rank as the most dangerous in the country, with 1.89 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Bizarre roadside attraction: The U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb on Mars Bluff, on March 11, 1958. It didn’t go off, but a crater site exists.
Must-see for gear heads: The weekly stock-car action at Myrtle Beach Speedway, and the Wheels of Yesteryear classic-car museum (also in Myrtle Beach).
SOUTH DAKOTA
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Proceed with caution: With 1.43 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, this state ranks considerably higher than the national average (1.13).
Open roads: Although South Dakota is the 17th-largest state by size, it sees the third-least car traffic of any state (according to January 2017 statistics), behind Rhode Island and Alaska.
Must-see for gear heads: The Pioneer Auto Show in Murdo, a museum that has celebrity vehicles (Elvis’s motorcycle!) and a real General Lee from “The Dukes of Hazzard TV” show.
TENNESSEE
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Cheap gas: $2.14/gallon, among the cheapest in the nation.
Most scenic drive: The 384 miles of mostly paved roads through the Great Smoky Mountains, the most-visited National Park in America. Speed limits average 35 mph.
‘The nation’s innkeeper’: The first motel chain (arguably) was launched in this state—the Holiday Inn, in 1952.
No small attraction: The Titanic Museum, billed as “the world’s largest museum attraction,” in Pigeon Forge.
The Great Smoky Mountains. (Credit: Simon Crumpton/Alamy Stock Photo)
TEXAS
Most popular car: Ford F-150 pickup; Texans buy the most pickups, compared to all other states.
Average gas price: $2.17/gallon, 18 cents under the national average.
Lead-foot heaven: Only in Texas will you see 85-mph speed limits, the highest in the country.
Proceed with caution: With 1.36 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, Texas ranks considerably above average (1.13).
Worth a detour in Houston: The Art Car Museum, a fleet of the strangest and most highly imagined vehicles you will ever see; and the Beer Can House, built out of some 50,000 aluminum beer cans and pop-tops.
UTAH
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Average gas price: $2.47/gallon, 22 cents more than the national average.
Safe and sober: Utah has the soberest drivers of any state. It’s also one of the safest, with 0.93 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Plenty o’ parks: Utah has 13 National Parks all within close proximity, including Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Canyonlands and Arches.
Bizarre side trip: The Summum Pyramid in Salt Lake City, where a small religious group practices “modern mummification” on human beings.
VERMONT
Most popular new vehicle: Toyota RAV4. Vermont also ranks high in electric-vehicle usage.
Average gas price: $2.40/gallon, 5 cents more than the national average.
Among the safest: With 0.78 road deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, Vermont is one of the safest states for drivers.
Selfie stop: Barre’s Main Street is home to the largest zipper in the world. Made of stone, it refuses to shut.
VIRGINIA
Most popular new vehicle: Honda CR-V.
Among the safest: Only 0.91 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
Cheap gas: $2.15/gallon, 20 cents less than the national average.
History-buff road trip: Explore colonial Virginia (Alexandria, Mount Vernon, Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown) and Civil War sites (Manassas, Fredericksburg, Appomattox, Richmond, Petersburg).
Must-see for gear heads: The American Armoured Foundation Tank Museum in Danville sports one of the world’s most important collections of armored military vehicles.
Manassas Civil War battle field. (Credit: Aurora Photos/Alamy Stock Photo)
WASHINGTON
Most popular new vehicle: Subaru Outback.
Pricey gas: $2.82/gallon, the nation’s third-highest.
Must-see for gear heads: The LeMay in Tacoma, billed as “America’s car museum.” Current exhibits include alternative-propulsion mobiles and “Legends of Motorsport: The Story of Nascar.”
While you’re passing through: Stop at Loretta’s Northwesterner for a Tavern Burger, named best burger in the state and fourth best in the country by Thrillist.
WEST VIRGINIA
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
Proceed with caution: The state’s 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, rank significantly higher than the national average (1.13).
Most beautiful drive: The Highland Scenic Highway snakes through the Monongahela National Forest. Look out for bears.
Presidential-trivia detour: Located in Berkeley Springs State Park, this actual stone bathtub—OK, a bathtub-shaped hole in a rock, fed by warm springs—was used by none other than George Washington. Good clean fun.
WISCONSIN
Most popular new vehicle: Chevrolet Silverado 1500 pickup.
Safe and sober: Wisconsin ranks as the fourth-least drunken state in the country in terms of inebriated drivers. The state’s 0.91 deaths per million vehicle miles traveled is also considerably below the average of 1.13.
Popular fast food: Culver’s, a local chain specializing in “butter burgers,” fried cheese curds and frozen custard.
Most scenic drive: The Door County Coastal Byway runs 66 miles through one of the midwest’s most heralded scenic wonders.
Must-see for gearheads: Road America in Elkhart Lake, one of the nation’s most iconic road-racing tracks.
WYOMING
Most popular new vehicle: Ford F-150 pickup.
Paying up: Wyomingites spend more to purchase their vehicles than car buyers in any other state—an average of $26,869.
Proceed with caution: 1.51 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well above the national average of 1.13.
Open roads: Drivers motored 618 billion miles in Wyoming in January 2017, the fourth least in the country.
Most scenic drive: The Grand Teton Loop, 42 miles through the Grand Teton National Park.
Bizarre roadside attraction: Wyoming’s Frontier Prison museum. Sit in a real gas chamber. Explore real, vintage torture equipment. You’re lucky you get to leave.
Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park. (Credit: Chase Dekker Wild-Life Images/Getty Imaegs)
