Allstate Compares Drivers In The Twin Cities

MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL METRO — A new report from the insurance company Allstate has ranked America’s best and worst drivers in the 200 largest cities, including both Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Allstate says drivers in Minneapolis are slightly safer than those in Saint Paul, but neither performed well compared to the national average.

The study found that drivers in Minneapolis were involved in an insurance claim every 7.7 years, compared to the national average of once a decade.

In Saint Paul, drivers said they were involved in an insurance claim every 7.3 years.

Drivers tend to be safer in the suburbs, the study found. In the Twin Cities suburban metro area, the average years between claims is 10.8, better than the national average.

Minneapolis

• Overall 2018 national rank: 127
• Average years between claims: 7.7
• Relative claim likelihood compared to national average: 29.8 percent
• Hard-braking events per 1,000 miles: 16.9
• 2017 overall national rank: 127

Saint Paul

• Overall national rank: 145
• Average years between claims: 7.3
• Relative claim likelihood compared to national average: 36.2 percent
• Hard-braking events per 1,000 miles: 18.4
• 2017 overall national rank: 170

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, SouthCarolina 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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