The overlooked risk in collision data reporting
Allstate recently released an updated report highlighting where America’s best and worst drivers are by number of collisions using data related to claims in the U.S.’s 200 most-populated cities. The study displays some interesting trends, but these reports can cause drivers to overlook the dangers of rural roads. Statistics suggest that drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal accidents on rural roads than their urban counterparts. In 2023, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) published a report noting that although 20% of U.S. residents live in rural areas and 31% of miles traveled occur in these regions, 41% of crash deaths occur there. Rural counties contain a greater share of land area, with more miles of roads, increasing the opportunities for accidents. Emergency responses can also be longer in rural areas. In 2022, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled was 1.5 times higher in rural areas than in urban areas, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
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Still curious to see which U.S. cities have the highest collision risks?
Allstate ranked Boston, Massachusetts, as the city where drivers are most likely to experience a collision, followed by Washington D.C., Baltimore, Maryland, Worcester, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Glendale, California, Los Angeles, California, Oakland, California, Providence, Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While a handful of West Coast cities made this top 10 list, seven out of 10 were located in the Northeast. Brownsville, Texas, was rated as the safest place to drive, but this wasn’t the only city in the Lone Star State with a favorable grade. Texas cities Laredo, McAllen, and Corpus Christi also made the top 20. Allstate has been conducting this study annually since 2005, and in the past decade, Texas cities like Austin, Fort Worth, Houston, and Dallas have advanced toward safety. Drivers in Pacific Northwest regions such as Washington, Oregon, and Alaska have seen some of the most significant collision reductions nationwide over the past 10 years. More specifically, Bellevue, Washington, has experienced the most improvement, moving up 133 spots since 2015. Other noteworthy cities include Anchorage, Alaska, and Portland, Oregon.
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Several Midwestern cities have fallen in Allstate’s list over the past decade. St. Louis, Missouri, declined the most, dropping 90 spots to 175, while Des Moines, Iowa, fell 89 places to 108, and Kansas City, Missouri, moved back 84 spots to 101. Other Midwestern cities mirroring this trend are Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Omaha, Nebraska, and Indianapolis, Indiana. There’s a long way between Boston, Massachusetts’s spot at 200 and first place with Brownsville, Texas, and this gap is widening, with 75 of the riskiest cities recording a 25% increase in crash rates since 2015. In Boston, drivers are nearly three and a half times more likely to be involved in a collision than the national average.
Final thoughts
City crash data often grabs headlines, as more people live in urban areas than in rural ones, but this reporting can overshadow the risks associated with the latter. In addition to longer stretches of roadway and slower emergency response times, rural areas have drivers traveling at higher average speeds, and these motorists are less likely to wear seatbelts, according to FinanceBuzz. Single-vehicle crashes are also more common in rural regions, which can involve running off the road or rolling over, increasing fatality risks.
