Here's How Bad Illinois Drivers Really Are

ILLINOIS — The Chicago area has more than its fair share of traffic headaches — road congestion, seemingly incessant construction and, of course, bad drivers. But how bad are Illinois drivers on the whole? As it turns not — not so bad at all.

Drivers in Illinois' major cities rank in the top half when it comes to safety — with the exception of the city of Chicago — among the 200 largest cities in America, according to Allstate's annual "best drivers" report. Released Tuesday ahead of the dangerous July 4th holiday, the report ranks cities based on crash frequency using the insurance giant's internal claims data.

Drivers in Chicago were among the worst in Illinois and were in the bottom half of Allstate's rankings, coming in at No. 133 out of 200 cities — just ahead of Bellevue, Washington and Riverside, California.

Meanwhile, drivers in Rockford were Illinois' safest drivers, with the city coming in at No. 32 — the state's highest-ranking city. Rockford ranked just behind Chattanooga, Tennessee, and just ahead of Omaha, Nebraska. Joliet and Naperville drivers were also in the top 100. Here are the rankings for Illinois' largest cities:

No. 32 - Rockford
No. 60 - Aurora
No. 65 - Joliet
No. 70 - Naperville
No. 133 - Chicago

Meanwhile, Brownsville, Texas, drivers were crowned the nation's safest for the second consecutive year, averaging about 15 years between crashes, according to the report. That's far more than the national average, which is about 11 years between crashes. Data on the number of hard-brakes for Brownsville drivers per 1,000 miles wasn't available. The insurer said it found hard-braking correlates with crash frequency. Cities where drivers don’t hard-brake as often tend to see fewer property damage claims.

On the flip side, Baltimore, Maryland, drivers were dubbed the least safe in the nation, with the average crash claim filed about every four years. Baltimore drivers also hard-brake more than 30 times every 1,000 miles, far more than the national average of 19.

Below are the 10 cities with the least safe drivers, according to Allstate.

1. Baltimore
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Boston
4. Worcester, MA
5. Glendale, CA
6. Los Angeles
7. Springfield, MA
8. Providence, RI
9. Alexandria, VA
10. Oakland, CA

Allstate said its researchers scrutinized reported property damage claims from January 2016 to December 2017. A collision referred to any auto crash resulting in a property damage claim.

Hard-braking data, which was not available for multiple cities, was based on customers who voluntarily participated in Allstate's so-called "Drivewise" program in 2016 and 2017.

Ken Rosen, the company's chief claims officer, said in a news release that the report aims to make roads safer and "ultimately save lives."

"Each of us needs to ask how we can do our part in our day-to-day lives and for our communities," said Rosen. "And beyond that, this country needs to come together to address pressing safety issues, such as rebuilding our roadway infrastructure to reduce risky conditions on America's roads."

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.