Philly drivers among worst in country, report says
The average Philadelphia driver gets into a crash every 6.2 years - more often than motorists in any other large city and nearly all smaller ones.
The average Philadelphia driver gets into a crash every 6.2 years -- more often than motorists in any other large city and nearly all smaller ones.
Allstate Insurance's annual driving report ranked Philadelphia's accident rate the worst among the country's largest cities, defined as those with populations above 1 million.
Among all 200 cities studied, Philadelphia ranked 192nd. Philadelphia drivers are 61 percent more likely to be involved in a collision than the average driver nationally, Allstate says.
The report didn't have good news for drivers across the region: Four of the five Pennsylvania and New Jersey cities included in the survey ranked in the bottom fourth, with the fifth barely above that benchmark.
"We don't want drivers in Philadelphia to be discouraged by their ranking," Allstate spokeswoman Julia Reusch said in a statement. "Instead, we want the report to challenge drivers in Philadelphia to make positive changes to their driving."
Drivers in Fort Collins, Colo., and Brownsville, Texas, were ranked as the safest in the country, with motorists in both towns going 14.2 years between crashes.
They were followed closely by Boise, Idaho, where drivers get in accidents every 14 years, on average.
Though Philadelphia ranked lowest among the country's biggest cities, several other major cities with smaller populations were among the few with worse rates.
Drivers in Boston go just 4.4 years between crashes. Washington, D.C., motorists crash every 5.1 years, and Baltimore drivers crash every 5.4 years.
Worcester, Mass., had the worst rate in the nation, with drivers going an average of just 4.3 years between collisions.
Pittsburgh, the other Pennsylvania city studied, fared poorly. Drivers there get in crashes every 6.6 years, Allstate said, ranking the city 187th.
Drivers in New Jersey cities studied also crash frequently. The report ranked Jersey City 152nd (7.8 years between crashes), Newark 180th (7.2 years between crashes) and Paterson 184th (6.9 years between crashes).