Posted on 06/07/2005 10:01:56 AM PDT by newgeezer
NORTHBROOK, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2005--Residents of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rank as the safest drivers in the U.S. according to the Allstate Insurance Company's (NYSE:ALL) inaugural "America's Best Drivers Report."
The first-of-its kind ranking of U.S. cities with populations 100,000-plus, revealed that the average driver in the central Iowa city will experience an auto collision every 15 years, compared to the national likelihood of a crash every 10 years - making them 33.28 percent less likely to have an accident than the national average.
Allstate researchers analyzed internal data to determine the likelihood drivers in America's largest 196 cities would experience an auto collision compared to the national average.
"As one of the country's largest insurers, Allstate is uniquely positioned to present this significant report," said Daryll Fletcher, Vice President in charge of data and research at Allstate. "This wealth of data enables Allstate to salute America's best drivers and recognize their safe driving skills, which make all of our communities safer places to live, work and raise families."
Cedar Rapids city officials were not shocked that the city ranked high on the list.
"With the majority of crashes occurring within five miles of the home, it's reassuring that our residents are the safest," said Paul Pate, Cedar Rapids' mayor. "The quality of our community's driver education programs combined with the consideration of our Traffic Engineering department goes a long way to make our roadways safe for everyone. We thought we'd make the list, but we never realized we'd be No. 1 in the country."
The Top 10
Drivers across Iowa, Tennessee and Colorado shine as the nation's safest, as two cities from each state rank among the top 10 with the safest drivers, according to the report.
Rank/City ....... Collision Likelihood Average Years
.................................Compared to..............Between
...............................National Average..........Collisions
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1. Cedar Rapids, Iowa 33.3% less likely 15
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2. Sioux Falls, S.D. 27.4% less likely 13.8
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3. Chattanooga, Tenn. 27.2% less likely 13.7
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4. Huntsville, Ala. 23.8% less likely 13.1
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5. Knoxville, Tenn. 23.8% less likely 13.1
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6. Des Moines, Iowa 21.5% less likely 12.7
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7. Topeka, Kan. 20.6% less likely 12.6
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8. Lakewood, Colo. 19.7% less likely 12.4
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9. Fort Collins, Colo. 19.4% less likely 12.4
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10. Birmingham, Ala. 19.3% less likely 12.4
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"What makes this report from Allstate valuable is that it is based on real world collision data from actual drivers," said Allan Williams, the recently retired chief scientist and researcher at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Also, Allstate's auto policies represent about 12 percent of the U.S. population, making this report a realistic snapshot of what's happening on America's roadways."
Additional "Road" Scholars
Drivers in U.S. cities with populations of one million-plus are more likely than the national average to experience a collision. Phoenix, the top-ranked city in this category, mirrors the national collision average of one accident every 10 years.
Rank/City ....... Collision Likelihood Average Years
.................................Compared to..............Between
...............................National Average..........Collisions
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64. Phoenix 0.4% more likely 10
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111. San Diego 10.3% more likely 9.1
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121. Houston 28.6% more likely 7.8
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167. San Antonio 28.9% more likely 7.8
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169. New York City 30.3% more likely 7.7
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173. Chicago 35.2% more likely 7.4
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177. Los Angeles 38.3% more likely 7.2
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180. Dallas 39.3% more likely 7.2
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182. Philadelphia 46.2% more likely 6.8
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According to the report, Milwaukee drivers will experience a collision approximately every 11.5 years and rank as the safest of the metros with populations between 500,000 and one million residents.
Rank/City ....... Collision Likelihood Average Years
.................................Compared to..............Between
...............................National Average..........Collisions
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17. Milwaukee 13% less likely 11.5
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18. Memphis, Tenn. 12.7% less likely 11.5
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23. Nashville, Tenn. 12.1% less likely 11.4
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47. El Paso, Texas 5.3% less likely 10.6
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52. Oklahoma City 3.4% less likely 10.4
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53. Tucson, Ariz. 2.8% less likely 10.3
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60. Indianapolis 1% less likely 10.1
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72. Denver 2.2% more likely 9.8
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86. Jacksonville, Fla. 4.6% more likely 9.6
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97. Portland, Ore. 8% more likely 9.3
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Secrets to Safety
"Many factors contribute to how cities rank in the report," said Williams. "Some factors - demographic makeup, commuting patterns and city design - cannot be changed; others, like smart traffic engineering and strong law enforcement initiatives, can help to prevent crashes in metropolitan areas."
Cedar Rapids is taking a serious and proactive approach to roadway improvements and law enforcement, city safety commissioner and police officer Dave Zahn said.
"Our traffic engineers work hand-in-hand with the community members to minimize traffic congestion and collision frequency," Zahn said. "For example, we recently expanded a 15 block strip of Mt. Vernon Road, one of our busier streets, from four lanes to five. Since its completion, collisions are down 66 percent on that stretch of road."
Zahn also pointed to Cedar Rapid's courteous driving style as a reason for the city's top ranking. He outlined lessons that all drivers could learn from Cedar Rapids residents.
-- Signs mean something - Traffic signs are here to help us. "Yield, stop and school zone speed limits are meant to be followed, not ignored," Zahn said.
-- Respect sirens - "Pull over to the side of the road when you see emergency vehicles," Zahn said. "I always tell people 'You never know. You may be the one in the back of that ambulance some day.'"
-- Yellow really does mean caution - "Slow down - don't speed up - when approaching a yellow light," Zahn stressed.
-- Speeding gets you nowhere fast - "Exceeding the speed limit won't get you to your destination any faster," Zahn said. "The few minutes you save you'll lose sitting at the next red light anyway."
-- Courtesy matters on the road, too - "Treat those you share the road with the same as you would your friends, family and co-workers," commented Zahn.
The Math Behind the Rankings
To create the report, Allstate researchers analyzed internal property damage claims over a two-year period (from January, 2002 to December, 2003) to ensure the findings would not be impacted by external influences such as weather or road construction. A weighted average of the two-year numbers determined the annual percentages. The report defines an auto crash as any collision resulting in property damage.
Crashes Happen
In all, Allstate policyholders in the largest 196 U.S. cities were involved in more than 2.2 million crashes over the 24-month period measured in the report. Nationwide, U.S. drivers experienced more than 8.7 million collisions during the same two-year period, statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed.
According to insurance.com, more crashes occur on Saturdays than any other day of the week. Friday ranked second and Thursday came in third. Collisions are least likely to occur on Sundays. Collisions are most likely to happen between 3 and 6 p.m. From 6 and 9 p.m. ranked second and 9 p.m. - midnight finished third. The fewest crashes occur between midnight and 3 a.m.
For the complete listing of all U.S. cities with 100,000-plus residents ranked in the Allstate report, log onto www.allstate.com.
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the "You're In Good Hands With Allstate(R)" slogan, Allstate helps individuals in approximately 17 million households protect what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow through approximately 13,600 exclusive agencies and financial professionals in the U.S. and Canada. Customers can access Allstate products and services such as auto insurance and homeowners insurance through Allstate agencies, or in select states at allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate(R). Encompass(SM) and Deerbrook(R) Insurance brand property and casualty products are sold exclusively through independent agents. Allstate Financial Group provides life and supplemental accident and health insurance, annuity, banking and retirement products designed for individual, institutional and worksite customers that are distributed through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, financial institutions and broker-dealers.
Note: The Allstate data excludes cities in the state of Massachusetts, where Allstate Insurance Company does not offer insurance products.
Some 800 drivers in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, got tanked up for free Tuesday morning as a reward from the Allstate Insurance Co., for safe driving.
The company gave away 8,000 gallons [of gasoline] in 10-gallon allotments for the city, which topped a list of safe driving among 197 of the largest cities, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported.
The company found Cedar Rapids motorists average an accident once every 15 years, far better than the national rate of one every 10 years.
Part of the low accident rate is possibly linked to the road courtesy shown in the eastern Iowa city, WBBM-AM, Chicago said, quoting a driver.
People are so polite here, the motorist said. "At a 'stop' sign, it's 'You go.'
No, why don't you go?'"
(UPI)
Drivers there must be good at avoiding collisions!
I think the chart means that Phoenix is top-ranked for fewer collisions. I guess those Philly drivers are worse than ours here.
53 years old and I've never had an accident...everyone I've hit I was aiming for!
You forgot the sarcasm tag on that.....
dunno. i'll ask around..
I live in the DC metro area (N.VA) the drivers in this area are terrible. I am cut off many times in just one day. Last nite on the way home from work, I had a green arrow for a left turn, the driver coming the other way turned right and almost hit me! I blew my horn to warn him of the impending collision, I slammed on my brakes. The driver ignored me, I did flash my brights at him as he pulled in front of me. He watched me turn into the grocery store parking lot and approached me at my car and wanted to argue and start something with me.
When he saw that I was a rather large man in height and weight, he backed off. His remarks were cut off by me, but he said he did not care who had the right of way!
I don't know how they can list Huntsville, Alabama as one of the safest cities. I live there and a person needs sonar to drive safely!
HandiMart Phillips 66, 588 Boyson Road NE (just W of C Avenue). It started around 5:20 AM. All the radio and TV stations were covering it. Newscopter 9 was hovering over the gas station from about 5:45 until sometime after I left for work at 7. The aerial views were pretty amazing. They had the cars winding through the adjacent parking lots like a queue in an amusement park (or, think Best Buy on the day after Thanksgiving).
The copter was loud enough at our house 3 blocks away that I'm real glad we don't live in the neighborhood next to the gas station.
Anonymity makes one say things here that they would NEVER say in real life.....
From the complete report, the Hall of Shame - the 10 Worst:
Washington, DC
Newark, NJ
Alexandria, VA
Arlington, VA
Elizabeth, NJ
Glendale, CA
Providence, RI
Baltimore, MD
San Francisco, CA
Norfolk, VA
All of the cities here with which I am familiar have one thing in common - they were not designed for automobiles.
That's correct.
I guess I'm confused.
What makes you think so?
Phoenix is ranked *best* of cities over 1 million population.
FYI, the worst city on the list is Washington, DC. 92% increased likelihood of an accident, averaging one every 5.2 years.
No need to get so personal, this is an insurance thread.
If Boston isn't on it, I don't believe it. You can get your butt kicked for Boston driving in the rest of the country.
Certainly. You wanna win, dontcha?
I assume that you're referring to the fact that when 4 cars approach one from all points of the compass, N will wait for W who'll wait for S who'll wait for E, when N+S and E+W should just alternate.
Problem is, the number of jackasses who never use their turn signals ever. If you are headed N, one of these jokers headed S will inevitably assume that it's his turn, will gleefully turn left without signalling, wreck your front end and then blame you because it was "his turn."
What you describe is a typical Atlanta driving move. Others are the left hand turn from the right hand lane across several lanes of traffic, and vice versa, and of course the old pull out from behind someone going 60 MPH in the merge lane to get ahead and cut them off because they aren't moving fast enough for you in the merge lane.
Average speed limit on Atlanta highways: 80+ MPH
Average speed limit on Atlanta surface streets: 60 MPH, and the Lord help you if you are so rude as to drive the posted speed limit or even a little above it and slow anybody down. You WILL be tailgated all the way down the surface road if there is no way for Mr. Speedy to pass you.
Ya know, I have no problem with SF on the list, cuz it's HELL to drive there, but Glendale??? Go figure.
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