Philadelphia’s safe drivers bear the brunt of the city’s dangerous ones and a nationwide survey shows that says Philadelphia car accident lawyer Rand Spear.
Anyone who’s been the victim of a car accident in Philadelphia won’t be surprised by Allstate’s America’s Best Drivers Report, at least if you start at the bottom. Out of 200 metropolitan areas in the country Philadelphia is nine slots away from the bottom, a position held by Boston. Philadelphia car accident lawyer Rand Spear says the city’s good drivers suffer at the hands of the bad ones.
The insurance company compiles this annual list and considers a number of insurance claim related factors, including,
- Average years between insurance claims,
- The likelihood of a claim compared to the national average,
- Average number of hard braking events for every thousand miles driven,
- Rankings after considering population density, and
- Rankings after considering average annual precipitation.
The top ranked area is Kansas City, MO. Once population density is considered the number one title goes to New York City which overall is listed at 116. When population density is in the equation Philadelphia moves up to 179.
On average Kansas City vehicle owners go 14.9 years between insurance claims, are about a third less likely to file a claim compared to the national average and have about 9.9 hard braking incidents for every thousand miles driven. Philadelphians on the other hand make an insurance claim on average every 6.1 years, are nearly 63% more likely to file a claim than the nationwide average and have about four times more hard braking incidents than Kansas City residents.
The bottom tier include many older, East Coast cities, including New Haven, CT (192), Providence, RI (194), Washington, DC (197), Baltimore, MD (199) and finally Boston, MA (200). Of the bottom ten cities for drivers only one, Glenside, CA, is not located between Alexandria, VA, and Boston. There’s only one East Coast area in the top twenty, Cary, NC, at number 14.
The only other Pennsylvania city to make the list is in the bottom quarter, Pittsburgh, at 175. All the New Jersey areas on the list are in the bottom half: Jersey City (114), Paterson (160) and Newark (165).
“Worst drivers” are in the eye of the beholder and the statistician. Financial website Nerdwallet last year ranked the top and bottom urban areas for relative safety and danger and Philadelphia made neither top twenty list. Their criteria were similar to Allstate’s but also added auto theft and larceny rates. Cary, NC, was listed as the safest area while Detroit, MI, was listed as the most dangerous. In Cary the number of fatal vehicle accidents per 100,000 residents is listed at 1.3 while in Detroit it’s 16.2.
Nerdwallet’s main “take aways” for its survey include,
- Larger cities are generally considered more dangerous. The average population for the twenty safest cities is less than half of the average population of the twenty most dangerous cities. But big need not mean bad as New York City is their 34th safest city.
- There are higher risks for drivers in the South and East Coast where 13 of the twenty most dangerous cities are located. Twelve of the twenty safest places are in the Midwest and West.
Whatever the statistics, Philadelphia drivers may get the luck of the draw and be surrounded by good drivers one day, surrounded by bad ones the next. Drivers need to be on the defensive and not be too trusting of others but there’s a limit on what you can do. Through no fault of your own you may be involved in a vehicle accident and seriously injured. That’s when we can help.
If you have been injured in a vehicle accident in Pennsylvania or New Jersey don’t let someone else’s carelessness stop you from enjoying life to its full potential. You may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Discuss your options and the next steps in your case with Philadelphia and New Jersey car accident lawyer Rand Spear today at 1-877-GET-RAND.
Call or text (215) 985-2424 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form