Drivers in northeastern U.S. have highest crash average, insurance survey finds

 

If you don’t want to be in a car crash, your best course of action is to pay attention, don’t follow too closely and keep up on maintenance. You also help your odds if you can stay out of the northeastern United States.

Allstate Insurance has released its yearly survey of the safest and most dangerous driving cities in the country. Allstate defines safe as going the longest period of time on average without a car crash.

Drivers in Fort Collins, Colo., which tops Allstate’s safe list, average a crash about every 14 years. That’s 28.6 percent less than the national average of 10 years.

Eight of the top 10 cities with the highest risk of crashes are on the East Coast. The other two are in California, Glendale and San Francisco.

The top 10 cities with high crash averages, according to Allstate, are:

1. Washington, D.C.

2. Baltimore

3. Glendale, Calif.

4. Newark, N.J.

5. Providence, R.I.

6. Philadelphia

7. Hartford, Conn.

8. Jersey City, N.J.

9. San Francisco

10. Alexandria, Va.

Los Angeles just missed the top 10, while other big cities such as New York (No. 22), Chicago (No. 36) and Detroit (No. 78) were in the middle of the list.

The cities with the lowest average crash rates are:

1. Fort Collins, Colo.

2. Boise, Idaho

3. Lincoln, Neb.

4. Chandler, Ariz.

5. Huntsville, Ala.

6. Knoxville, Tenn.

7. Springfield, Mo.

8. Reno, Nev.

9. Eugene, Ore.

10. Chattanooga, Tenn.

As for the biggest of the big cities, Allstate ranked them too. For cities with populations of more than 1 million people, Phoenix, San Diego and San Antonio, Texas, were the safest places to drive. Philadelphia was the most dangerous, with a driver getting into an accident every 6.2 years on average.