Where are America's safest drivers?

By Catherine Holahan

Maybe it's the wide streets or road-rage-calming waterfalls. But drivers are just better out in Sioux Falls, S.D. In fact, according to insurance company Allstate's annual city-by-city accident report, released Wednesday, Sioux Falls has the safest drivers in the country.

It's the fourth year that South Dakota's largest city has captured the top spot. Allstate has ranked about 200 U.S. cities by car-collision frequency each year since 2005, based on the company's claims data. On average, drivers in Sioux Falls have a car accident just once every 13.5 years, and they are 26% less likely to have an accident than the average driver nationwide.

The riskiest cities? Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, where drivers can expect a wreck every five years or so.

Fatal crashes at record lows

Drivers across the country can feel a bit more confident on the roads, though. The number of people injured in a motor vehicle accident dropped 5.6% to 2.35 million last year. And America's drivers are less likely to die in a car accident now than at any time in the past 50 years.

"We are thrilled to see cities making progress toward keeping America's roadways safer," said Mike Roche, the senior vice president of Allstate's claim organization. Motor vehicle fatalities are at record lows. They fell 9% in the first three months of the year, compared with the first quarter of 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported. If the 2009 trend continues, fewer than 31,000 people will die this year on U.S. roads -- a steep decline from 2008, when 37,261 died. That number was the lowest since 1961.

Highway safety officials also reported a decline in the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. It fell to 1.27 in 2008, the lowest on record, from 1.36 in 2007. The rate dropped to 1.12 during the first three months of 2009.

The fatality declines appear to be related to drivers staying at home more. Vehicle miles traveled dropped 3.6% last year, according to the traffic-safety agency. Record seat belt use may also be helping to lower the death toll.

Where cities rank

In its survey this year, Allstate also highlighted cities that have seen the biggest declines in car collisions in the past four years. Alexandria, Va., was the most improved city. The average driver in the city has an accident once every 7.2 years, according to the Allstate report. That was an improvement of 1.8 years from 2005, when Allstate began its survey.

Not surprisingly, cities with large populations tend to have the highest accident frequencies. The safest big city, according to Allstate, is Phoenix. Drivers there are just 8.8% more likely to get into an accident than the average American. Compare that with New York, where drivers are 25.5% more likely to have at least a fender bender, and Philadelphia, where folks are 57% more likely to get into a scrape.

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Correction: Drivers in Sioux Falls, S.D., are 26% less likely to have an accident than the average U.S. driver. Previously, the wrong city was identified in one of the references in the article.