Allstate Insurance released its annual “America’s Best Drivers Report” in late August, listing the cities with the lowest rates of automobile collisions, both per driver and compared to the national average. The survey ranked the two hundred largest American cities, including two cities in Indiana. Indianapolis ranked 60th, and Fort Wayne ranked 31st. Smaller cities tended to rank higher than larger ones. The top city for safe drivers, according to Allstate, is Sioux Falls, South Dakota, while the worst is Washington, DC. The study is useful for Indiana drivers to understand what they are doing well in terms of avoiding car accidents, and where they could improve.
This year’s report was the eighth survey of “best drivers” conducted by Allstate. Actuaries reviewed two years of collision reports from 2009 and 2010 to identify cities with high rates of accident claims. All data used by Allstate comes from its own policy claims, which it says account for about ten percent of all auto insurance policies in the country. It is therefore not a scientific survey, but it provides a useful overview of auto accident statistics.
The study identified two signifiers to determine which cities have the “best drivers.” First, it calculated the length of time between auto collisions for an average driver in each city. Second, it compared the likelihood of an average driver having an accident to the national average. Smaller cities tended to rank higher than the big cities, at least in part because they often present fewer distractions, less traffic, and less uncertainty in terms of road conditions. The top-ranked city, Sioux Falls, has a population of around 156,000 people, making it the 153rd-largest city in the survey. Of the nine cities with populations greater than one million people, Phoenix, Arizona ranked highest on the “best drivers” scale at 53rd.
Two Indiana cities ranked in the top thirty percent of the surveyed cities. Indianapolis ranked highest in the group of cities with populations from 750,000 to one million people. It is the twelfth largest city in the study, with about 827,000 people. It ranked sixtieth on the “best drivers” scale. Indianapolis drivers have an average of 10.1 years between accidents. The likelihood of a driver in Indianapolis having an accident is 0.6% less than the national average.
Fort Wayne ranked even better in the study. Its population is just below 256,000, making it the 74th-largest city. As for “best drivers,” it ranked 31st. Drivers in Fort Wayne will go an average of 11.2 years between accidents and are 10.8% less likely to have an accident than the national average.
By way of comparison to the “best” and “worst” cities, Sioux Falls’ numbers were 13.8 years and 27.6% less than the national average. For Washington, DC, the numbers were 4.7 years and 112.1% greater than average.
At Parr Richey Frandsen Patterson Kruse, we help the victims of automobile accidents and their families obtain compensation for their damages. To schedule a free and confidential consultation with one of our lawyers, contact us today online or at 888-532-7766.