Insurance Study Ranks Safest Driving Areas
edar Rapids, Iowa, is the safest U.S. city to drive in, according to a new insurance study, the Associated Press reported. Sioux Falls, S.D., ranks second.
Researchers with Allstate Insurance Co. analyzed two years worth of internal crash and claim data to calculate the chances that drivers in 196 of the nation’s biggest cities would be involved in an accident compared to the national average, AP reported.
Washington, D.C. ranked as the least safe city for motorists, with a chance of an accident once every 5.2 years, the study said.
Among the other safest cities were Chattanooga, Tenn.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Des Moines, Iowa.
Milwaukee drivers are likely to experience a crash once every 12.95 years, the best among cities with more than 500,000 people. Among cities with more than 1 million people, Phoenix ranks the highest for safety, with a collision likely once every 10 years.
Allstate researchers studied 2.2 million damage claims, defined as any collision resulting in property damage, filed between January 2002 and December 2003, a broad enough period to limit the influence of external factors such as weather and road construction, AP said.
