Fuel giveaway draws a crowd
Tony Williams didn’t know what was going on, but he pulled into the crowded Zip Trip on North Pines Road anyway.
“I was going to Jack in the Box, saw all the people here and thought, ‘Why is everyone in line for gas? Is it going up?’ ” the Spokane resident said. “So I scooted my car in line.”
Williams nabbed one of 60 $25 gas cards that Allstate Insurance Co. gave away Friday morning at the Spokane Valley gas station.
Allstate did the same at Zip Trip stations on North Division and East 57th streets in Spokane.
The insurer handed out the gift cards to reward drivers for their high ranking in the company’s 2007 best drivers report, said spokesman Ryan Priest.
Spokane was the safest of 200 cities surveyed in Washington.
The survey, which looks at claims filed, found Spokane drivers are 7.8 percent less likely to get in an accident than the national average and will have one accident every 10.8 years, compared with the national average of one every 10 years.
“Spokane drivers are very aware,” said Jason Tate, a local Allstate agent.
“They have to deal with driving in four seasons all the time.”
The giveaways were to be a surprise to start at 11 a.m., but word leaked out early.
By 10:30 a.m., 25 cars stretched two or three blocks down the street next to the North Pines station, said John Boerger, communications consultant for Allstate.
The gift cards were gone within five or 10 minutes, Boerger said.
Spokane Valley resident Pat Basler was first in line there. Her daughter called her from work and told her about the giveaway.
“Every little bit helps,” said Basler, who drives a medium-sized SUV.
For Troy and Mandy Lang, the free card provided only a third of a tank of gas.
“It usually costs $70 to fill up,” Lang said.
Allstate agents also gave away hands-free headsets to customers, reminding them of a new state law, effective July 1, that makes it a traffic infraction to drive while holding a cell phone to your ear.
Boise ranked highest of Northwest cities in Allstate’s safest drivers survey, followed by Eugene, Ore. Spokane was third.