SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — An insurance study has once again found that Sioux Falls has the safest drivers in the nation, marking the third straight year that South Dakota’s largest city has topped the list.
Researchers with Allstate Insurance Co. analyzed two years of internal crash data to calculate the chance that drivers in 193 of the nation’s most populated cities would be involved in an accident.
Allstate found that Sioux Falls motorists average an accident once every 14.6 years — 31.6 percent better than the national rate of one every 10 years.
The city’s rate improved slightly from last year’s average of one accident every 13.7 years.
Officials in Sioux Falls again attributed the ranking to strong traffic engineering and driver education programs.
Researchers studied about 2 million damage claims defined as any collision resulting in property damage filed between January 2005 and December 2006. A weighted average of the two-year numbers determined the annual percentages.
Here are the findings:
Top 10 safest cities, and average years between crashes:
1. Sioux Falls, S.D., 14.6
2. Fort Collins, Colo., 13.4
3. Chattanooga, Tenn., 13.3
4. Sterling Heights, Mich., 13.2
5. Warren, Mich., 13.2
6. Knoxville, Tenn., 13.1
7. Grand Rapids, Mich., 12.9
8. Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 12.9
9. Lexington, Ky., 12.8
10. Detroit, 12.4
Cities with 500,000 to 1 million residents
1. Detroit, 12.4
2. Milwaukee, 11.8
3. Louisville, Ky., 11.4
4. Nashville, Tenn., 11.1
5. Tucson, Ariz., 11.0
6. Memphis, Tenn., 10.9
7. Denver, 10.7
8. Oklahoma City, 10.5
9. Indianapolis, 10.4
10. El Paso, Texas, 10.2
Cities with more than 1 million residents
1. Phoenix, 9.8
2. San Diego, 9.1
3. New York, 8.8
4. Houston, 8.1
5. San Antonio, 8.0
6. Dallas, 7.8
7. Chicago, 7.6
8. Los Angeles, 7.1
9. Philadelphia, 6.6
(No 10th spot was assigned.)
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