Auto Accidents in Baltimore and Washington D.C.

Auto Accidents in Baltimore and Washington D.C.

In an attempt to bring the discussion of safe driving to the forefront, AllState recently published its results for the safest (and least safe) cities to drive in the U.S. Once again at the bottom of the list are Baltimore, MD and Washington D.C. AllState ranked the top 200 cities in the U.S. by population and looked at the number of non-fatal auto accidents per capita in a one year period ending in July 2012.

A link to the 2013 report can be found here.

Baltimore ranks number 193 out of 194 safest cities to drive in in the U.S. Drivers in Baltimore are 86.1% more likely to be involved in an auto accident than drivers in the rest of the U.S. Baltimore residents statistically will be involved in an accident every 5.4 years.

The dubious honor of “winner” for least safe roads goes to Washington D.C. with a rank of 194 out of 194. Drivers in Washington D.C. are 109.3% more likely to be involved in a crash than drivers in the rest of the country. D.C. residents are likely to be involved in an accident every 4.8 years.

Hats off to Fort Collins, Colorado who ranks #1 with the least auto accidents per capita this year. Fort Collins residents are 28.1 percent less likely to get in an auto accident as compared to the rest of the country. Fort Collins residents are only expected to be involved in an accident every 13.9 years.

Population density and city planning (old thin roads, lack of major city transportation) has made the Baltimore and Washington Metro areas some of the least safe in the country. With that having been said, it is up to all of us drivers to take proper precaution and not contribute to the problem. Notably, texting and driving is becoming an epidemic, with some reports indicating that it is more likely to lead to teen death behind the wheel than drunk driving.

Be safe out there!

Dr. Gulitz