Allstate announced it has released its 14th annual America’s Best Drivers Report that named Brownsville, Texas, the city with America’s safest drivers. Based on Allstate claims data, the report aims to shine a spotlight on safe driving leading up to the busy Labor Day travel weekend – a particularly deadly time of year on the road, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Released each year, the America’s Best Drivers Report ranks the 200 largest cities in America based on collision frequency. To celebrate the top-ranking cities and encourage them to serve as examples for communities around the country, this year’s report taps an unexpected group to spread the message of safe driving: youth and teens, many of whom can’t even drive yet.
“Our backseat passengers are the drivers of tomorrow, and they’re looking to the adults in their lives to model safe driving behaviors,” said Ken Rosen, Allstate chief claims officer. “We truly care about making our communities safer, so we made an effort to go beyond just lecturing on the dangers of distracted and unsafe driving. To do this, we brought together inspirational youth, teens and their families in two low-ranking cities to stress the importance of roadway safety. By convening communities from coast to coast, we hope our influential future drivers and leaders can help Allstate make a positive impact on lives across America.”
Keeping America’s roads safe is a cause especially important to young people, for whom car crashes are a leading cause of death. Whether as passengers or drivers, auto collisions are the number-one killer of every single age from 16 to 23, as well as age 10. In an effort to educate communities on this issue, this year Allstate lent a hand to bottom-ranked Baltimore (ranked 200th) and Los Angeles (ranked 194th). Enlisting the help of young internet star Mila Stauffer, the company premiered a humorous yet educational “Good Driving Starts Young” video at the events, held Aug. 28. The short video rallied the communities behind the importance of safe driving with 3-year-old Stauffer providing candid commentary on a series of unsafe – though unfortunately common – driving scenarios.
The average driver in America will experience a collision approximately once every 10 years, according to Allstate claims data. In top-ranked Brownsville, that figure improves by about 26 percent to once every 13.6 years. The following are the top 10 safest-driving cities, according to this year’s Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report:
| City & Overall Ranking | Average Years
Between Collisions (National Average: 10) |
Collision Likelihood Compared to
National Average |
| 1. Brownsville, TX | 13.6 | 26.3% less likely |
| 2. Kansas City, KS | 13.1 | 23.8% less likely |
| 3. Boise, ID | 12.2 | 17.8% less likely |
| 4. Huntsville, AL | 11.9 | 16.1% less likely |
| 5. Madison, WI | 11.8 | 15.4% less likely |
| 6. Laredo, TX | 11.7 | 14.4% less likely |
| 7. Midland, TX | 11.7 | 14.2% less likely |
| 8. Cape Coral, FL | 11.6 | 14.1% less likely |
| 9. Fort Collins, CO | 11.6 | 14.0% less likely |
| 10. McAllen, TX | 11.5 | 13.4% less likely |
“Traffic deaths are especially high during the busy summer travel season,” said David Harkey, president of IIHS. “We hope this year’s Best Drivers Report encourages more people to buckle up, slow down and minimize distractions to reduce their risks when they’re traveling over the holiday and all year round.”
