Modern Vespa

How safe is your city....it affects your insurance rates....my city sucks...They really are trying to kill me....Austin, Tx 176 out of 196 cities, but it's not the worst...check out the complete list...highlights below.

The 2009 "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report"
Complete National List:

http://content.news8austin.com/auscontent/files/AllstateReport.pdf

Top Ten Overall Safest Cities as per Allstate Insurance records.

City & Overall Ranking Collision Likelihood Compared to National Average Average Years Between Collisions
1. Sioux Falls, S.D. -26.1% less likely 13.5
2. Fort Collins, Colo. -24.6% less likely 13.3
3. Chattanooga, Tenn. -21.4% less likely 12.7
4. Cedar Rapids, Iowa -20.7% less likely 12.6
5. Knoxville, Tenn. -19.0% less likely 12.3
6. Fort Wayne, Ind. -18.4% less likely 12.2
7. Lexington-Fayette, Ky. -17.7% less likely 12.1
8. Eugene, Ore. -16.3% less likely 11.9
9. Boise, Idaho -15.4% less likely 11.8
10. Colorado Springs, Colo. -15.0% less likely 11.8

Top Ten Safest Big Cities

City & Overall Ranking Collision Likelihood Compared to National Average Average Years Between Collisions
95. Phoenix, Ariz. 8.8% more likely 9.2
108. San Diego, Calif. 13.0% more likely 8.8
145. New York, N.Y. 25.5% more likely 8.0
161. Houston, Texas 32.0% more likely 7.6
168. San Antonio, Texas 36.3% more likely 7.3
170. Chicago, Ill. 37.6% more likely 7.3
173. Dallas, Texas 39.5% more likely 7.2
176. Austin, Texas 7.5
184. Los Angeles, Calif. 46.6% more likely 6.8
188. Philadelphia, Pa. 57.1% more likely 6.4

Too bad it excludes Massachusetts... but I already know just how bad the drivers are here in Boston

Didn't make the top 196 list?....wonder how bad it really is???
...jacq

My city did not even make the list. I knew people do not pay attention while driving. I did not know how bad it was. Now I feel vindicated when I speed away from traffic while riding in town,,,

Thanks for the information Jacq. Appreciate it.

I am not surprised San Antonio made the bottom of the list. Drivers do not know how to yield, stop at stop signs, can't use a turn signal, or stop at red lights. I blame it on an education system where only 50% of high school students graduate, lack of law enforcement, and no drivers education in schools.

14th...Not too shabby. I guess since half of the population stretches the yellow lights into 'pink lights', the other half of the population knows to ease on out when the light turns green. Trust no one.

I wonder if you would see any trends if you took the 193 cities and marked the ones that have:
a) lots of free ways vs surface streets.
b) lots of 4 way stops on surface and residential streets.
c) tickets for red lights based on traffic cameras.

Apparently they have never been to Springfield Illinois where most people have a cell phone glued to their ear, think a red light means, "go like hell to get through the intersection." stop signs were made for other people, pedestrians, "What are they?", don't signal to change lanes, cut you off, then flip you off as if it is your fault.

Having driven many miles in both cities, I can see that there is a major difference between Tucson drivers and Boston drivers. Tucson drivers are on pot; Boston drivers are on PCP.

I could see that

I'll take a stoned driver over one jacked up on PCP any day okay, the pothead might run you down but they don't mean it, and they won't reverse over you to finish the job

The reason that Colorado Springs made the safe list is that no one there goes anywhere because of the piss poor layout of the city. It's like some giant took a bunch of buildings, threw them at random then put streets around them.

I grew up in Austin, and I would have to say it's the safest city I've ever driven in, at least in my opinion.

Lived in LA for 3 years, and I don't even need to explain LA drivers.

But here in Colorado, it's really scary. More than LA. I took my car driver's test and only passed by 70%, but I still passed, even after popping a curb that made the DMV test guy literally fly out of his seat. He told me you can actually pass with only 50%, and seeing the drivers around here, it really shows. They'll give a license to anybody!

I'm just speaking from scooter experience. I've only driven a car for maybe a total of 3 hours of my life (see? I told you they'd give anyone a license around here!).

yeah boston drivers are some of the worst and most aggressive IMHO. Noticed at the bottom of the pdf it says allstate does not rank cities in MA....wonder why?

+1!

We're #136 here in the south bay. We have horrible drivers here, I swear they drive like they're sitting on their couch watching TV. Last night, a cager in the next lane behind me damn near rear ended another cager, at a light that had just turned green... heard the tires lock up, scared the crap out of me!

after reading the list and reviewing the cities I begin to understand why the left coast has so many FF zealots! No insult intended! I refused to ride much in Las Vegas, but many large metro CA cities aren't much better!

YAY! In the top 10! Of course our biggest problem is politeness lock-up at 4-way stops.
I think our safe driving is really a side effect of paranoia over hitting a bicyclist. We have a truly amazing number of bicyclist and most don't bother following any kind of road rule or law (or wearing helmets). They are totally unpredictable other than the high chance of turning in front of you or darting out through a red light. Since hitting and killing a bicyclist has the same local social stigma as setting a preschool on fire, drivers tend to be alert and law-abiding. Well, that's just my theory, anyway. It's either that or being aggressive is just too much effort.

Oh dear,.... you haven't been here in awhile...it's hideous...

I think Oahu makes the rank of 45 in the globally ranked safest city to live in. However i suspect were in the bottom half when it comes to drivers Finite number of roads and an always increasing number of cars on the road don't make for good circumstances IMHO

I live in Boston for 8 years before moving back to NYC.

People here had no idea why I enjoyed driving in Manhattan so much, it was so much more civilized than the streets of Boston.

Boston drivers are aggressive but at least they know how to drive. In Cincinnati, moron drivers are the norm and the area probably rates in the top ten for both rubberneck delays and road rage incidents. Simple things like merging, use of turn signals, paying attention to traffic signals, hell, even parking your car in a marked parking space are foreign concepts.

Our little SC town isn't ranked, but having lived in Washington DC, I certainly understand why it is in last place.

Orlando came in at # 146. I don't think the drivers here are too bad but I wouldn't ride my scooter anywhere near the Disney area attractions or the airport though. Too many tourists not knowing where they are going.

Wow my city made number 6 on the OP's top list.Ft Wayne.

edit

Rush Hour.....

I guess Texas does have standards. I failed my auto license test for touching the curb while parallel parking backwards up a hill. I hate DPS testing centers

Anyway, Austin is bad, but I can't believe we ranked worse than Corpus Christi Those people can barely walk, much less navigate a vehicle. I also noticed a bunch of cities in the valley ranking better than Austin. What, with all of the old people and uninsured, non-licensed people, they actually drive safer? I don't think so. I wonder how they come up with these numbers.