Every year, Allstate Insurance compiles a list of the cities in the United States that are the safest to drive in. By default, this also causes the creation of a list of the absolute worst cities to drive in. Where does the city you live in fall on the list from Allstate?
Each year, Allstate Insurance creates the “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report”. This year, 2011, is the seventh annual report of this kind.
The insurance company does an detailed analysis of the auto insurance claims that are sent to various insurance companies around the nation. This allows Allstate to find the national average of auto crash claims, and to compare the 200 largest cities in American with that number. They take data from a two year span, in order to make sure that the findings are not being influenced by weather or by road construction.
For the purpose of the report, Allstate defines an auto crash as: “any collision resulting in a property damage claim”. The purpose of the report is to make more people have discussions about safe driving. Allstate wants people to be more attentive when they are driving, and to be more tolerant of other drivers, so that less car accidents will happen.
Fort Collins, Iowa, has been named as the city with the best drivers this year. It held the same honor last year. Drivers in Fort Collins, Iowa, are 28.6% less likely to get into a collision than the national average. Boise, Idaho came in second place. Drivers there are 25.5% less likely to get into a collision than the national average. In third place was Lincoln, Nebraska, where drivers are 22.7% less likely to get into a collision than the national average would predict.
Rounding out the top five cities with the best drivers is Chandler, Arizona, (20.4% less likely), and Huntsville, Alabama, (18.9% less likely). This is followed by Knoxville, Tennessee, Springfield, Missouri, Reno, Nevada, Eugene, Oregon, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Allstate found that the drivers in American cities that have a population of one million or more are more likely than the national average to end up involved in a collision. In this category, Phoenix, Arizona is at the top of the list. Drivers in Phoenix, Arizona, are 1.1% more likely to experience a collision than the national average. This is the seventh year in a row that Phoenix, Arizona has been named the safest of the big cities to drive in.
You might not be surprised to read over the rest of the list of the ten least safe cities to drive in. Drivers in Chicago, Illinois, are 30.0% more likely to be involved in a collision than the national average. Drivers in New York City, New York, are 37.6% more likely to have a collision. At the top, (or perhaps, the bottom), of the list is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drivers there are 60.2% more likely to be in a collision than the national average.
Image by Ben Jones on Flickr