If you live in Fort Collins, Colorado, this is a scene that is much less familiar than if you live in Worcester, Massachusetts.
With Americans buying new vehicles at a frenzied pace this year, knowing that Fort Collins, Colorado, is the safest place to drive that new car or truck might be useful information.
Allstate Insurance Co. released its 10th annual “Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report,” which is based on Allstate claims data, ranks America’s 200 largest cities in terms of car collision frequency to identify which cities have the safest drivers.
It marks the fourth time in the 10-year history of the report the city known for being the home of Colorado State University, took the honor of being “America’s Safest Driving City.” Fort Collins has placed in the top ten every year since the report’s inception.
This year, the results indicate the average driver in Fort Collins will experience an auto collision every 14.2 years, which is 29.6 percent less likely than the national average of every 10 years. They were followed closely by drivers in Brownsville, Texas, who were 29.5% less likely to have an accident, but also went 14.2 years between accidents.
“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,” said Mike Roche, executive vice president of claims, Allstate.
“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.”
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And the worst city? Worcester, Massachusetts. The average driver there goes just 4.3 years between collisions, compared to the national average of about every 10 years. Drivers need only cruise about 40 miles east on I-90 to find the second-worst city: Boston.
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It ranks as second worst with a crash every 4.4 years. In fact, drivers in the commonwealth captured three of the four “worst” spots with Springfield drivers going 5.4 years on average. Washington D.C. broke up the run with 5.1 years between accidents.
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Allstate provided some tips for drivers to avoid adding to the accident statistics for their cities, including:
- Know what’s happening in the city during the time you’re driving. Find out if there are events that may impact traffic, and listen to traffic reports on your car radio. Avoid traffic jams or explore alternative routes, if possible.
- Get directions to where you’re going. Review directions carefully in advance. If you get lost mid-trip, safely pull over and wait until you feel calm enough to get back on the road, using that time to get directions, check traffic or call for help.
- Allow plenty of time to reach your destination. Stop-and-go traffic, gridlock, traffic signal stops, pedestrian walkways and events that create traffic detours can add time to your travel.
- Stay alert. Be prepared to frequently stop or slow down for pedestrians, emergency vehicles, delivery trucks, parking cars, taxi cabs, and public transportation vehicles such as city buses.
- Be aware of road conditions. Ice, snow, fog, rain – all of these weather conditions require extra caution and slower speeds. Stopping safely in rain and snow takes greater lengths of roadway than in dry conditions.
- Maintain your vehicle to prepare for extreme weather. Headlights and brake lights are critical in low visibility situations – be sure they are consistently maintained along with other critical car functions such as brakes and windshield wipers.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 33,500 car crash fatalities occurred in 2012. Additionally, Allstate research found that 70% of vehicles involved in auto claims are considered drivable, which indicates that most claims are the result of low speed (under 35 miles per hour) collisions.