Best and Worst Drivers by Sign

How does your sign rank behind the wheel?

by Nancy R. Fenn

Please don't shoot the messenger, here ... Suncorp Metway, Ltd., a financial service based in Australia, ranked car accident claimants by their zodiac sign in a study of 160,000 accident claims over a three-year period. This is what they found:

Due to their general restlessness and tendency to become easily bored in slow-paced environments, the number one worst drivers were Geminis, who were involved in more car accidents than any other zodiac sign.

Second and third place holders for this questionable honor are Taurus and Pisces. Taureans nab the second-place slot due to their tendency to think only about their own immediate needs. When it comes to the fast-paced flow of traffic, Taureans often cannot look far enough past themselves to adapt smoothly and safely to the ever-changing environment around them. And with Pisceans lost in the recesses of their minds, detached from the surrounding world, their reactions to quick and dangerous situations can be slow and irrational.

Capricorns, on the other hand, rank as the best drivers of the zodiac. Patient, responsible and sensible is the Mountain Goat's way -- never known as one to take risks, Capricorns stick to the rules of safety and consideration on their mission from point A to point B.

And so we come to the vast middle ground of this survey. With Gemini ranking as the worst driver on the list, Taurus at 2, Pisces at 3 and Capricorn reigning over all others as the best driver of the zodiac, the remaining Sun signs fall in this order:

4. Virgo
5. Cancer
6. Aquarius
7. Aries
8. Leo
9. Libra
10. Sagittarius
11. Scorpio

Sagittarians may play it safe behind the wheel thanks to their superbly developed minds, or, intuition. A highly developed sense of flow and timing allows Sagittarius to smoothly deal with traffic patterns and spatial relations. And Scorpios -- intimately involved with the inner lives of others and highly sensitive to changing energies -- in many ways can see right through the rest of us. This sense of foresight and instinct is exactly what is needed to let a drunk driver simply pass on by, or to steer clear of that soccer mom wrangling a brood of children in the back seat while balancing four coffees in her lap and maintaining a phone conversation with her best friend, all at once.

No matter your Sun sign (even the most responsible Capricorns), we'd all be wise to become more aware of our driving patterns and realize that we're not alone out there. While this survey offers entertaining answers to the age-old question of who makes the best driver, the root of the discussion is quite a serious matter: when we are responsible for the lives and the safety of ourselves, our passengers and the lives and families of every other individual on the road, it's time to put down the phone, wake up and focus on our responsibilities behind the wheel!