Phoenix Ranked Safest Big City for Driving (!)

Allstate released rankings today for the safest driving cities. (Based on average length of time between accidents.)

For the third straight year, Phoenix ranked on top for the safest large city. Phoenix drivers average one crash every 9.8 years according to the study — slightly more frequently than the national average.

Maybe it's due to gridlock. Ever tried to drive a Phoenix freeway during rush hour? (Rush "hour" here seems to be from 5:00am – 10:00am and 2:00pm – 7:00pm.) It's hard to crash when your sitting in the freeway version of a parking lot. But what major city doesn't have traffic jams…

Sioux Falls, SD was ranked as the safest city overall (one accident every 13.7 years). Newark, NJ and Washington D.C. were the most dangerous at 5.2 and 5.3 years between crashes respectively.

Cities in Michigan dominated the "Most improved" list — maybe because everyone is driving OUT of Michigan?

I like being armed with this data. I'll use it on my teenage son that's learning to drive. He always strives to be above average. That means I better get at least 9.8 years out of him before he has an accident. Hopefully he'll be long gone from the house by then…

This Allstate study conflicts with what my defensive driving instructor recently said about Phoenix having 4 of the top 10 worst intersections in the country — as ranked by number of fatalities. I can't find anything on-line to collaborate his claim. But a study by State Farm shows Phoenix with 2 of the top 10 worst intersections based on number of accidents. (and what is the deal with Memorial drive in Tulsa??)

Just goes to show, you can pretty much claim whatever you want with the right statistic.

[tags]Phoenix traffic, safest cities[/tags]

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