Bridgeport beats Boston for driver safety, but an Allstate Insurance report places Connecticut’s largest city 15th to last among its survey of 200 largest cities. An Allstate spokesperson says Bridgeport’s population density over 16 square miles is a major contributor, according to its frequency collision data. New Haven placed 10th to last in the national survey. Boston placed dead last nationally. Visit www.allstate.com/BestDriversReport for an interactive map of complete results for this year and for historical collision-frequency rankings from the past 11 years.
Allstate kicked out the info before the start of July 4th holiday weekend, what it terms as “the deadliest day of the year on average for drivers,” according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“As Connecticut drivers look forward to celebrating the holiday weekend, the results of our report are an important reminder to put safety first on the road,” said Tracey King, Allstate spokesperson. “We encourage drivers in Bridgeport and New Haven to refocus on safe-driving practices, to help reduce roadway collisions that may result in unfortunate consequences, such as tragic fatalities and potentially higher insurance costs.”
This year Brownsville, Texas, claimed the overall top spot for the first time in the report’s 12-year history. The average Brownsville driver experiences an auto collision every 14.6 years, which is 31.4 percent less likely than the national average. Based on the report the average Bridgeport driver will face an auto collision every 7 years. Nationally, the average driver will experience a collision every 10 years.
From Allstate:
National safety experts say drivers are now spending more time on the road and suffering more fatal collisions than recent years. The U.S. Department of Transportation says that from March 2015 to February 2016 Americans drove 3.15 trillion miles, an increase of more than 3 percent over the previous 12 months and the largest year-to-year increase in over two decades. According to the National Safety Council, more than 38,000 roadway fatalities occurred last year, the highest count since 2008.
Preventable human factors, like drunk, distracted or drowsy driving; speeding; and failure to use safety features contribute to 94 percent of car crashes. IIHS says intoxication is a significant factor in Fourth of July crash fatalities, with 42 percent between 2010 and 2014 involving at least one driver with a blood-alcohol concentration over the legal driving limit of .08.
Allstate’s report is the result of an in-depth examination of company claims data, to determine the likelihood drivers in America’s 200 largest cities will experience a vehicle collision compared to the national average. This year, Allstate actuaries analyzed property damage claims reported during the two-year period of January 2013 to December 2014. A weighted average of the two-year numbers determines the annual percentages.
The report defines a collision as any auto crash resulting in a property damage claim. Allstate’s auto policies represent nearly 10 percent of all U.S. auto policies, making this report a realistic snapshot of what’s happening on America;s roadways.
For the second straight year, the report also provides insight into braking habits in more than 100 cities across the country, using hard-braking data culled from Allstate’s Drivewise® offering, an innovative technology that enables consumers to monitor their driving habits to improve safety and gain rewards on their insurance.
A hard-braking event is defined as slowing down eight miles per hour or more over a one-second period. Allstate found a correlation between hard braking and collision frequency. Cities with higher collision frequencies also recorded more hard-braking events.
Nationally, on average, a driver will experience 19 hard-braking events for every 1,000 miles driven. Drivers in these Connecticut cities have the following average hard-breaking events per 1,000 miles driven:
Average Hard-Braking Events per 1,000 miles
Bridgeport 22.8
New Haven 20.8Driving tips for cities with high braking activity:
Leave room between you and other vehicles. Hard-braking collisions often occur when drivers are following each other too closely causing rear-end collisions. Try to avoid rear-end collisions by leaving more space and time to react to other vehicles’ actions.
Minimize distractions while driving. Distracted driving is one of the main causes for collisions. Common driving distractions include eating, grooming, talking on a cell phone or texting, interacting with other passengers, adjusting navigation devices and playing loud music.
