Allstate Insurance: Boise area drivers second-safest in nation
Crashes happen. Just not as often in Boise as in the rest of the country, with a lone exception. Allstate Insurance Company this week released its ninth annual overview of driver safety and indicated Boise’s are among the safest drivers in the nation, based on the potential of becoming involved in a collision. Only Fort Collins, Colo., ranked better than Boise in a list of America’s 200 largest cities. Statistics indicate Boise drivers are 28 percent less likely than the national average to be in an automobile crash. Their Colorado counterparts are slightly better at 28.2 percent. Drivers in both cities can expect to have a collision every 13.9 years. Sioux Falls is third on the list of 10 safest drivers – 21.8 percent less likely than the national average and a 12.8-year span between mishaps. Boise drivers have occupied the No. 2 spot for three straight years. Fort Collins and Sioux Falls traded places at No. 1 and No. 3 this year. Boise ranked third in 2010 and ninth in 2009. Insurance company actuaries – charged with analyzing data and projecting populations most likely to file a claim – began producing the safe driver report in 2000. Internal property-damage report claims were analyzed over a two-year period (from January 2010 to December 2011) to ensure the findings would not be influenced by outside events, such as weather conditions or highway construction. A weighted average of the two-year numbers determined the annual percentages. The report defines an auto crash as any collision resulting in a property-damage claim. Allstate's auto policies represent about 10 percent of all U.S. auto policies, making its report a realistic snapshot of what's happening on America's roadways, company officials claim. According to the most recent report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car crash fatalities increased by more than 1,700 from 2011 to 2012, the first year-to-year increase in fatalities since 2005. While fatalities have increased over the past year, Allstate research found that 70 percent of vehicles involved in auto claims are considered drivable, which indicates that most claims are the result of low speed (less than 35 miles per hour) collisions. "Allstate has found the most frequent collisions happen during minor fender-benders, but it's important to keep in mind that even lower-speed accidents can have serious outcomes," said Mike Roche, Allstate’s senior vice president of claims.
Published 8-30-13 |