Community Corner

Report: DC Dead Last in Driver Safety

Allstate Insurance Company's annual report ranking cities by how safe their drivers are puts Washington, DC, at the bottom of the list.

 

The next time you wonder whether you should drive into Washington, DC, or hop on the Metro to get to your destination, consider this: Allstate Insurance Company recently ranked DC drivers as the most dangerous in the nation.

The 8th annual "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report" is based on Allstate claims data and ranks the country's "largest cities in terms of car collision frequency to identify which cities have the safest drivers," according to an Allstate statement.

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DC ranks at the bottom of the list. DC drivers go, on average, only 4.7 years between collisions. Compare that to the national average of 10 years between collisions—DC drivers' chances of getting into collisions are 112.1 percent higher than average, according to Allstate data (see the PDF attached to this post for the data).

Heading up to Baltimore? Consider taking a MARC or Amtrak train. Baltimore is the second-worst city according to Allstate data. Baltimore drivers average 5.3 years between collisions—a collision likelihood that is 87.9 percent higher than the national average, according to Allstate data.

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Things are slightly better in New York City, with drivers going about 7.1 years between collisions—a rate that is 41.1 percent higher than the national average. Philadelphians average 6.1 years between accidents, according to Allstate data.

(Comparisons at the other end of the Boston-Washington corridor will have to wait. The report excludes cities in Massachusetts because Allstate did not provide insurance for Massachusetts drivers during the two-year time frame reflected in the report. Providence, RI, drivers, however, average only about 5.5 years between collisions.)

So, where's an East Coaster to go for a road trip?

Sioux Falls, SD, has held the top spot in this Allstate ranking for five years. "According to the report, the average driver in Sioux Falls will experience an auto collision every 13.8 years, which is 27.6 percent less likely than the national average of 10 years," according to an Allstate statement.

See the PDF attached to this post to learn how other cities in the country fared in the ranking.

Of all the drivers, who are the safest?

Drivers over 75 years old are among the safest drivers on the road, according to a study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety earlier this year, .

Still, "[drivers] over 85 years old ... have a higher rate of deadly accidents than any other age group, except teenagers, according to [the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's] study," WTOP reported.

How safe do you feel driving in DC? Tell us in the comments.



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