Here’s How Safe Florida Drivers Really Are

A new report from the insurance company Allstate has ranked America's best and worst drivers in the 200 largest cities, and 13 cities in Florida made the list. The Best Drivers Report 2018 said the best drivers in Florida are in none other than Cape Coral, which ranked 8th nationwide and where drivers said they were involved in an insurance claim every 11.6 years, compared to the national average of once a decade.

The worst Florida drivers are located in Hialeah and go an average of 7.5 years between claims, according to the report. It ranked 138th out of 200. And Tampa ranked third from the bottom for Florida cities at No. 104. St. Petersburg drivers received better grades, ranking at No. 42 nationwide. St. Pete drivers were involved in an insurance claim every 9.6 years to Tampa's 8.2 years.

Miami ranked No. 86, with drivers making an insurance claim every 8.5 years.

Other Florida cities in the rankings include: Port St. Lucie at No. 12; Tallahassee at No. 43; Jacksonville at No. 50; Fort Lauderdale at No. 53; Orlando at No. 72; Miramar at No. 89, Pembroke Pines at No. 101 and Hollywood at No. 110.

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Allstate gave Baltimore the dubious distinction of having the worst drivers in the country. The average Baltimore driver reports filing a claim once every 3.8 years and is 163 percent more likely to do so than the national average. Those drivers also experience about 29 hard-braking events per 1,000 miles.

But of particularly note is that Massachusetts is home to three of the 10 cities with the worst drivers, according to Allstate.

Here are the 10 cities with the worst drivers:

1. Baltimore, Maryland
2. Boston, Massachusetts
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Worcester, Massachusetts
5. Glendale, California
6. Springfield, Massachusetts
7. Los Angeles, California
8. Providence, Rhode Island
9. Alexandria, Virginia
10. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

On the flip side, Texas appears to have the best drivers. The Lone Star state boasts four of the 10 cities with the best drivers, including No. 1 ranked Brownsville, where drivers go on average 13.6 years between claims. Brownsville drivers are about 26 percent less likely to be involved in a claim, the report found, though data on hard-braking wasn't available.

Here are the 10 cities with the best drivers in America:

1. Brownsville, Texas
2. Kansas City, Kansas
3. Boise, Idaho
4. Huntsville, Alabama
5. Madison, Wisconsin
6. Laredo, Texas
7. Midland, Texas
8. Cape Coral, Florida
9. Fort Collins, Colorado
10. McAllen, Texas

The report calculated property damage frequency of Allstate insured drivers from 2015-16. The researchers used U.S. Census Bureau data to obtain population density figures. Drivewise data, which looks at hard-braking events, is based on the number of Allstate customers who voluntarily enrolled in the program. Numerous cities listed on the rankings do not have those numbers available either because limited measurable data was available or the program simply wasn't available (California, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas).

Allstate said it publishes the report only as a way to create a discussion about safe driving and raise awareness about the importance of being "safe and attentive behind the wheel." It is not used to determine auto insurance rates.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

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