Driving: It's a gem in Idaho

COEUR d'ALENE - The best place in the country to be a driver is Idaho, at least according to Bankrate Inc., a publisher of financial information.

"When we set out to build a ranking for American drivers, our primary interest was to rate the overall experience for motorists in each state," Bankrate said on its website.

For its rankings, published Monday, Bankrate favored states where gasoline, vehicle repairs and other costs for drivers were low. Safety was also a point of emphasis, along with commute times and vehicle thefts.

Rural states - with their generally low cost of living and small-town commutes - did better in the rankings. States with high gas prices tended to do poorly, Bankrate said.

Idaho scored well because of low repair costs, at $379 per job, and annual gasoline spending at $733.

Idaho had the second-lowest insurance premiums in the country at $656. That was a five-year average.

The state also had the fifth-fewest car thefts, with 95 for every 100,000 people.

The average commute time was less than 20 minutes each way for drivers in Idaho. Wyoming had the shortest commute time of 15.9 minutes.

"The low cost for driving allows Idahoans to reinvest that money in businesses, recreation and our communities, creating more economic opportunity," Idaho Transportation Department director Brian Ness said in a statement. "By investing money in our highways and bridges, we enhance mobility, demonstrate how business-friendly we are and make Idaho a great place to live, work and drive."

Washington ranked No. 41, Montana was No. 17, and Oregon was No. 30. Vermont came in second, and Wyoming was third-best.

While Idaho ranked first, it did score poorly in one area.

Idahoans are involved in fatal crashes at a slightly higher rate than the national average, with 1.3 deaths per 100 million miles driven. The national average is 1.1.

Statistics for Bankrate's analysis were from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the FBI, CarMD, the Oil Price Information Service, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the U.S. Census Bureau.