Statistics suggest some areas of the U.S. inherently breed more cautious drivers, while others tend to spawn some of the most accident-prone motor-vehicle operators on the road.
If auto safety is your number one vehicular priority, move to Ft. Collins, CO, which boasts the safest drivers in the nation according to the annual America’s Best Driver’s Report conducted by Allstate Insurance Co.
Those living in Ft. Collins go an average 14.2 years between accidents, with traffic incidents 29.6 less likely to occur than the national average of once every 10 years.
On the other hand, you might want to pack up the SUV and head for greener pastures if you live in Worcester, MA, which can lay claim to having the worst drivers in America. They tend to become involved in an auto accident once every 4.3 years, which makes them 134.8 percent more liable to crash their cars than the average American.
“A big part of our job at Allstate is to help our customers prevent bad things from happening. With that in mind, our actuaries reviewed millions of records to develop this year’s report which presents new data to equip them with better driving awareness tools,” says Mike Roche, Allstate’s executive vice president of claims. “Allstate is showing drivers that factors like population, a city’s density and precipitation may contribute to their driving safety to reveal important lessons on the road.”
Here’s the top 10 list of cities having the safest drivers, according to Allstate’s 2014 Best Driver’s Report:
♦ Ft. Collins, CO: 14.2 years between accidents, 29.6% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Brownsville, TX: 14.2 years between accidents, 29.5% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Boise, ID: 14.0 years between accidents, 28.4% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Kansas City, MO: 12.9 years between accidents, 22.4% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Huntsville, AL: 12.6 years between accidents, 20.3% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Montgomery, AL: 12.4 years between accidents, 19.4% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Visalia, CA: 12.4 years between accidents, 19.1% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Laredo, TX: 12.2 years between accidents, 18.3% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Madison, WI: 12.2 years between accidents, 17.8% less likely to get in an accident.
♦ Olathe, KS: 12.1 years between accidents, 17.5% less likely to get in an accident.
And here’s the rogues gallery of the 10 cities having the worst drivers in the nation:
♦ Worcester, MA: 4.3 years between accidents, 134.8% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Boston, MA: 4.4 years between accidents, 129.9% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Washington, DC: 5.1 years between accidents, 97.3% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Springfield, MA: 5.4 years between accidents, 85.8% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Providence, RI: 5.4 years between accidents, 85.1% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Baltimore, MD: 5.4 years between accidents, 84.9% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Glendale, CA: 5.8 years between accidents, 72.6% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Alexandria, VA: 5.9 years between accidents, 68.2% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ Philadelphia, PA: 6.2 years between accidents, 61.2% more likely to get in an accident.
♦ New Haven, CT: 6.3 years between accidents, 59.1% more likely to get in an accident.
Here’s a link to the full results for each of the 200 cities studied.