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Free gas rewards motorists in 2 cities for safe driving
6/13/2007, 11:21 p.m. ET
By DIRK LAMMERS
The Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — For the second straight year, an insurance study has found that Sioux Falls has the safest drivers in the nation.

Researchers with Allstate Insurance Co. analyzed two years of internal crash data to calculate the chance that drivers in 200 of the nation's most populated cities would be involved in an accident.

Allstate, which claims a 12 percent market share of the nation's auto insurance policies, found that Sioux Falls motorists average an accident once every 13.7 years, 27 percent better than the national rate of one every 10 years.

The city's rate rose slightly from last year's average of once accident every 14.3 years.

Officials in Sioux Falls attributed the ranking to strong traffic engineering and driver education programs.

Following Sioux Falls on the list were Fort Collins, Colo.; Flint, Mich.; Warren, Mich.; Huntsville, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; Milwaukee; and Des Moines, Iowa.

Allstate planned to give away free gas in Warren on Thursday morning and in Sioux Falls on Thursday afternoon to reward residents for their rankings.

Warren police were expecting traffic tie-ups around the Fast Track service station where the Allstate giveaway was to begin at 6:30 a.m. The giveaway of up to 10 gallons of unleaded gas was to last until 9 a.m. or until $20,000 worth of gas is pumped.

Allstate added a "most-improved" category for this year's study and cities in Michigan dominated the Top 5.

Drivers in Flint, Mich., added 3.6 years to their time between accidents, followed by Warren, 3.2; Grand Rapids, 2.8; Detroit, 2.7; and Sterling Heights, 2.3.

Warren Police Chief Jere Green said Michigan has made significant engineering improvements during the past five years such as green arrows for left turns and slowdown lanes for right turns.

Cities in the state also make use of turnarounds or "Michigan lefts," which, like the New Jersey jug handle, prevents drivers from turning left off a divided highway.

Warren has also stepped up its enforcement with a dedicated traffic squad of eight motorcycle officers and four radar officers, Green said.

"Enforcement equals compliance, and the result of that is fewer accidents when people comply with the speed limits and things of that nature," he said. "That's just common sense."

A graduated license system which forces drivers under 18 to spend their first six months behind the wheel with a parent or guardian in the car has also improved safety, Green added.

"You don't just a get a driver's license and you get to go, and I think that makes a big difference in driver safety as well," he said.

Motorists in Newark, N.J., were most at risk, according to the study, averaging an accident once every 5.2 years. Washington was second-to-last at 5.3 years.

Drivers in Milwaukee, ranked 22nd in population, are likely to experience a crash once every 12.7 years, the best among cities with between 500,000 and 1 million people. Phoenix ranks the highest for safety among cities with more than 1 million people with a collision likely once every 9.8 years.

Boston, Worcester and Springfield in Massachusetts were not included since Allstate does not write policies in the state.

Researchers studied about 2 million damage claims defined as any collision resulting in property damage filed between January 2004 and December 2005. That's a broad enough period to limit the influence of external factors such as weather and road construction, researchers said.

A weighted average of the two-year numbers determined the annual percentages.

"That's why we do a two-year average, thinking that construction is a season, typically," said Michael Roche, Allstate's senior vice president of claims. "And so that over two years we expects those results from a statistical basis to be sound."

Roche said the goal of the annual study is to jump-start a national discussion about the factors that contribute to safe driving.

"It's really our hope that after having safe driving discussions, cities will continue to show improvement in the coming years," he said.

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On the Net:

Allstate: http://www.allstate.com/

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