Once again, drivers in cities across the country have been weighed against one another. However the ‘Eighth Annual Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report’ relayed more disappointing results for California.
The report studies the 200 largest cities in the nation for frequency of car crashes among Allstate’s insured – which represents about 10 percent of all drivers in the country. On average, drivers will be involved in an auto collision once every ten years. However, in California, drivers are likely to experience a collision once every 8.6 years. That means Californians are 16 percent more likely to experience a collision than the national average.
Allstate declared drivers in Sioux Falls, S.D. the safest in the nation with one collision every 13.8 years.
Salinas, which has either been rated first or second safest driving city in California every year since 2005, credit for the lack of collisions goes to the officers on the street and in the traffic unit, says Public Information Officer Miguel Cabrera.
“Our traffic unit devotes most, if not all of their time, to these sorts of activities that have an impact,” said Officer Cabrera.
Officer Cabrera went on to explain that the Traffic Division has had to learn to do more with less. The city only has three motorcycle officers today, as opposed to six or seven a couple of years ago. But by partnering with area law enforcement and using state grants, the department has continued strict enforcement and targeted crackdowns.
“They’ve done it for cell phones and hands free enforcement support. We do our dui checkpoints,” said Officer Cabrera.
“Once per month, officers from other agencies in Monterey County gather at one of the cities in the county and they direct a 4- to 6-hour enforcement [program]… That has an immediate impact. Between the citations and media coverage, it brings attention, they are very visible, and they make their presence known.”
The only city to best Salinas was Visalia, which ranked 24th nationally. There, drivers average 11.4 years between accidents.
The worst performing California city included in the report was Glendale, which ranked 191st, with the average traffic accident being only 5.6 years apart, or 77.5 percent below the national average.
Other cities included Los Angeles (182nd / 6.7 years), San Francisco (186th / 6.5 years) San Jose (146th / 8.1 years), Sacramento (140th / 8.4 years) and Anaheim (143rd / 8.2 years).