Tennessee: State of Driving

Tennessee is home to winding rural roads, gorgeous rolling hills, and of course, incredible music. All of that can potentially add up to a wonderful driving experience as you navigate your car through scenic hills and valleys while Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley or B.B. King croon from the stereo system.

 

Unfortunately, not all driving in the Volunteer State is quite that idyllic. Not only can you expect to deal with serious traffic congestion in the major cities, but drivers in Tennessee were ranked the 6th worst in the nation in a 2022 report based on data compiled from the Insurance Research Council, Federal Highway Administration, and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

 

Before you get behind the wheel in Tennessee, it pays to understand just what kinds of unique hazards and challenges you'll meet on the road. Here's what you need to know to stay safe behind the wheel – and happily singing along to your favorites on the Grand Ole Opry radio show.

 

Tennessee requires drivers to carry liability insurance with the following minimums:

 

Though these are the minimum requirements necessary to comply with the law, many Tennesseans will choose to purchase additional coverage, including collision coverage and/or comprehensive coverage.

 

In addition, Tennessee has a high number of uninsured motorists – a startling 23.7% of drivers do not have insurance, despite efforts on the part of the legislature to enforce the insurance requirements. For that reason, many Tennessee drivers may also want to carry uninsured motorist coverage, just in case.

 

According to Scheroi Taylor, who grew up in Memphis and now lives in Nashville, "Cars are essential here since a lot of jobs are not in the city center." But Tennesseans aren't content to simply treat their cars as modes of transportation and are likely to consider their vehicles as a type of rolling status symbol. Taylor writes "People get their cars painted, fresh tires and a boomin' sound system for a 1987 Cutlass."

 

Jeff Peacock, who works in the Memphis area, agrees: "People try to impress by driving a Mercedes – but you can see lots of these kinds of high-end cars in the Buy Here/Pay Here Used Car Lot." For the average driver in Tennessee, having a nice car – or at least a nicely painted and decked out car – offers a feeling of empowerment above and beyond the practical aspect of having your own transportation.

 

The love of eye-catching cars extends to the numerous car museums throughout the state. The Lane Motor Museum just outside Nashville features over 400 quirky and unique vehicles from obscure automakers. Once a year, the Lane Museum holds a Rally for the Lane, when drivers pay to take cars from the collection on an all-day treasure hunt along winding roads through the countryside outside of Nashville.

 

In addition to the Lane Museum, Tennessee is home to several other institutions that celebrate the beauty of cars, from the Hollywood Star Cars Museum, where you can see the Batmobile and the Beverly Hillbillies jalopy, to the Floyd Garrett Muscle Car Museum, where you can see one of the largest collections of American-made cars in the nation.

 

Since much of Tennessee is car-dependent, it should come as no surprise that drivers in the Volunteer State put more miles on their cars than the national average. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the average American driver logged 13,476 miles per year as of 2014, the most recent year for which the data has been compiled.

 

During that same year, licensed drivers in Tennessee racked up nearly 2000 miles more, averaging 15,462 miles for the year. Those additional miles on the road don't just increase the number of hours you spend behind the wheel – they can also increase the cost of regular and irregular vehicle maintenance, which includes everything from oil changes to brake pad replacements.

 

The financial blog My Money Design calculates that the cost of such maintenance is approximately $0.26/mile. Tennesseans who drive the average of 15,642 miles per year can expect to pay about $4,067 in maintenance costs each year. That's more than $500 above what the average U.S. driver will pay, since 13,476 miles per year will only generate approximately $3,504 in maintenance costs.

 

The good news for drivers is that the roads in Tennessee are in generally good condition, which can help to keep those maintenance costs lower. The Washington Post reported that a mere 11% of roads in Tennessee are in poor condition, which means "they have so many major ruts, cracks and potholes that they can't simply be resurfaced – they need to be completely rebuilt." While it is certainly less than ideal that more than one in 10 of the roads have such poor surfaces, the rest of the nation is faring much worse, and Tennessee is actually sixth in the nation for decent roadways. Tennessee also boasts the lowest rate of extra annual vehicle operation and maintenance costs due to bad roads, at $278 per year.

 

Where you drive can also affect your likelihood of getting into a wreck. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has found that the rate of car crash deaths per 100 million miles traveled is two times higher in rural areas as compared to urban areas – but that hardly means that urban driving is necessarily safer, especially in Tennessee. The fatality statistics for Tennessee bear out the need for caution wherever you drive: 45 percent of car crash-related deaths occurred in  occurred in rural areas and 55% occurred in urban areas in 2019, the most recent year for which we have the number. However, since only 39.3 percent of vehicle miles driven occurred on rural roads in Tennessee, it is clear that rural driving offers some serious hazards.

 

The dangers of driving in Tennessee are partially attributable to the common driving behaviors on the road. According to Taylor, driving in Tennessee "is oddly relaxed and pressured at the same time. You have your really aggressive drivers and you have the chill Southern-style drivers. When I first moved (to Nashville), I thought I was going to die if I didn't drive faster. If it weren't for laws, I think Tennessee would be full of wrecks!"

 

 

However, relatively low gas prices do encourage more people to drive. When drivers can more easily afford a fill up, they are more likely to make more trips and more non-essential trips in their cars. Unfortunately, the more trips people make, the more drivers there are on the road, which can lead to more accidents.

 

Distracted Driving

 

To reduce distracted driving related crashes, Tennessee instituted a text messaging ban as of 2009, which prohibits all drivers from composing, sending or reading text messages while their vehicle is in motion. The law makes texting while driving a primary offense, which means a police officer may pull over a driver and issue a ticket solely for the offense of texting while driving. In addition, novice drivers and school bus drivers are prohibited from all cell phone use by this law.

 

Tennessee also recently passed a law that makes talking on a handheld cell phone while driving a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $50. This law went into effect as on Jan. 1, 2018.

 

The State of Driving in Tennessee