Alexandria Drivers Among Worst In Nation: Report

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Blame it on the Beltway traffic. Alexandria drivers are the 192nd safest out of the 200 largest cities in America, according to Allstate’s annual “best drivers” report. The report, released Tuesday ahead of the dangerous July 4th holiday, ranks cities based on crash frequency using the insurance giant’s internal claims data.

Alexandria drivers have an average 6.2 years between insurance claims for crashes; the national average is 10.57 years. The city has 27.5 hard-breaking events per 1,000 miles compared to the national average of 19 hard-breaking events per 1,000 miles.

Drivers in Alexandria landed behind its Virginia counterparts. Chesapeake came in at 46, Virginia Beach at 66 and Newport News at 78. Alexandria's neighbor Arlington was the 168th safest driving city.

For the bottom 15 cities, the report looked at which roads have more crashes based on Allstate data. The report identified Richmond Highway, or Route 1, as a "risky road" in Alexandria. The city has taken a number of steps to improve safety on Route 1 as part of Vision Zero, aimed at eliminating traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2028. Last summer, the speed limit on a portion of Route 1 was lowered from 35 mph to 25 mph.

Baltimore, Maryland, drivers were dubbed the least safe in the nation, with the average crash claim filed about every four years. Baltimore drivers also hard-brake more than 30 times every 1,000 miles, far more than the national average of 19.

Below are the 10 cities with the least safe drivers, according to Allstate.

1. Baltimore
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Boston
4. Worcester, MA
5. Glendale, CA
6. Los Angeles
7. Springfield, MA
8. Providence, RI
9. Alexandria, VA
10. Oakland, CA

Meanwhile, Brownsville, Texas, drivers were crowned the nation’s safest for the second consecutive year, averaging about 15 years between crashes, according to the report. The insurer said it found hard-braking correlates with crash frequency. Cities where drivers don’t hard-brake as often tend to see fewer property damage claims.

Allstate said its researchers scrutinized reported property damage claims from January 2016 to December 2017. A collision referred to any auto crash resulting in a property damage claim.

Hard-braking data, which was not available for multiple cities, was based on customers who voluntarily participated in Allstate's so-called “Drivewise” program in 2016 and 2017.

Ken Rosen, the company’s chief claims officer, said in a news release that the report aims to make roads safer and “ultimately save lives."

"Each of us needs to ask how we can do our part in our day-to-day lives and for our communities,” said Rosen. “And beyond that, this country needs to come together to address pressing safety issues, such as rebuilding our roadway infrastructure to reduce risky conditions on America's roads.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.