CAR & AUTO INSURANCE : The Worst Cities for Car Owners

Let's face it: owning a car isn't the high-speed, tight-cornering nirvana that's depicted in ads. Those are "professional drivers" operating their vehicles on scenic "closed roads." Studies show that your experience is a little different. Owning a car involves money, time, and aggravation. You like your freedom, but…well, let's just say that it's not hard to see the gas tank as half-empty. So where are the worst places to own a car? Let's take a look:

The Most Expensive States for Auto Insurance

1. District of Columbia
2. New Jersey
3. Massachusetts
4. New York
5. Connecticut
6. Delaware
7. Nevada
8. Rhode Island
9. Louisiana
10. Arizona

Good drivers out there who feel that they're paying too much for the bad drivers take heed. Good drivers in New Jersey and DC are paying through the nose to cover the costs of the less careful, while bad drivers in South and North Dakota live in auto insurance heaven despite their wanton ways. That's a bit unfair to the Garden State and the Nation's Capitol-those are considered entirely urban and probably shouldn't be compared to rural states. Leaving those two alone would then give Massachusetts and New York the dubious distinction of being the most premium-heavy jurisdictions. Natives won't be surprised-all over the Union these states' streets (or at least the drivers on them) are reputed to be especially mean. When was the last time you heard of a New York cabbie pleasantly yielding the right-of-way with a wave and a smile?

The Most Expensive States for Gasoline Prices

1. Hawaii
2. Alaska
3. California
4. New York
5. Nevada
6. Oregon
7. Connecticut
8. Idaho
9. District of Columbia
10. Washington

Say that you've managed to insure your car affordably. You drive a safe car in a safe town. You've still got to fuel that monstrous SUV you've been told is necessary to go from your house to the mall, and some states are more gas-tank friendly than others. The current status of fuel prices can be accessed at AAA's fuelgaugereport.com. There, you can learn that while cruising from Atlanta to Savannah will be a virtual breeze, New York, California and Nevada will drain your wallets nearly nine dollars more per fill-up (if your tank holds an SUV-ish 25 gallons.) And don't even ask about Hawaii and Alaska.

The Most Traffic Congested Cities

1. Los Angeles, CA
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Denver, CO
4. Miami, FL
5. Phoenix, AZ
6. Chicago, IL
7. San Jose, CA
8. Washington, DC
9. Portland, OR
10. Boston, MA

And now (drum roll, please) Annoyance #1! Americans may love driving their cars, but most folks don't like just sitting in them - especially when they're stuck in traffic. According to data collected by the Texas Transportation Institute for its 2003 Urban Mobility study, when it comes to the Rat Race, we are running in it at ever-slower speeds with an increasing amount of company. The costs of traffic are many, but the most obvious and egregious is the cost in time. The average commuter spends over an entire workweek per year stuck in traffic!

Disheartened? By now you're probably getting ready to give up driving altogether. But wait - you might want to consider moving to a city near our northern or southern border, or a port of entry, just to make things worse. Nine of the ten top cities for car theft are near one of these.

Cities with the Highest Vehicle Theft Rates

1. Phoenix, AZ
2. Fresno, CA
3. Modesto, CA
4. Stockton-Lodi, CA
5. Las Vegas, NV
6. Miami, FL
7. Sacramento, CA
8. Oakland, CA
9. Seattle, WA
10. Tacoma, WA

If all else fails, you could leave your car to rust on four cinder blocks. Although at this point, you may be creating a whole new set of problems.

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