Boise ranks as 5th-safest driving city in nation
Boise is the fifth-safest driving city in the nation, according to a report from Allstate Insurance, which has been compiling its rankings annually for the past 12 years based on claims data and collisions. Boise has ranked in the top 10 every year for the past eight years. The report was released just in time for the July 4 holiday – the single deadliest day of the year for drivers on U.S. roads, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
This year, the report also analyzed braking habits in more than 100 cities, looking for “hard-breaking events,” which are defined as slowing down 8 mph or more over a one-second period. Hard-braking incidents correlate with collision frequency; nationally, U.S. drivers experience an average of 19 hard-braking events for every 1,000 miles driven. In Boise, that figure was just 11.6 events, sixth-lowest among the cities analyzed; lowest was Madison, Wis., at 9.
For the overall safest-driving cities rankings, Brownsville, Texas came in first, with drivers there 31.4 percent less likely to experience a collision than the national average. Boise drivers were 22.1 percent less likely than the national average. The survey covers the nation's 200 largest cities.
Ranking second was Kansas City, Kan.; third, Madison, Wis.; fourth, Cape Coral, Fla; sixth, Huntsville, Ala.; seventh, Port Saint Lucie, Fla.; eighth, Wichita, Kan.; ninth, Olathe, Kan.; and 10th – believe it or not – Reno, Nev.
Boise and Reno were the only western cities on the top-10 list this year.
Allstate also reported that Anchorage, Alaska was the “most improved” city in this year’s rankings, jumping up 58 places from last year to rank 69th safest driving city among the 200.
So why is it so much safer to drive in Boise than, say, West Valley, Utah (ranked 87th), Seattle (183rd), Eugene, Ore. (42nd), Spokane (54th) or Salt Lake City (78th)? Population density and weather are among the factors that Allstate weighed. But most of it apparently comes down to good driving habits, from drivers leaving room between them and the vehicles they’re following to minimizing distractions while driving, including eating, texting, grooming and more.
The city that ranked the worst in the rankings should be no surprise to anyone who’s ever driven there: Boston, Mass. It also ranked last – 200th – last year. You can see the full report online here, and a summary from Allstate here.
