Baltimore Amongst Least-Safest Driving Cities in America

Baltimore Amongst Least-Safest Driving Cities in America

As a Baltimore Chiropractor with two chiropractic clinics in Baltimore, MD we see more than our fair share of musculoskeletal complaints. We treat patients with headaches, neck pain, and back pain. In many instances these are our friends and neighbors who play weekend sports and suffer back pain from sports injuries. In many other cases these are our friends and neighbors sitting at a red light in traffic before they get unexpectedly rear-ended by the vehicle behind them driven by a distracted driver. No matter the proximate cause of neck and back pain in Baltimore, Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic has emerged as one of the leaders in Baltimore City and Baltimore county in diagnosing and treating acute neck and back pain injuries.

Each year All-State releases a report of “America’s Best Drivers”. It lists 200 cities in America from safest to least safe in terms of: average years between claims, relative likelihood of claim compared to national average, number of “hard-braking events”, and it ranks all of these cities relative to population density and while accounting for climate conditions.

Before we get to the cities who fared the poorest, lets talk about the winners.

The top 5 safest cities in America are:
1. Kansas City, KS – with an average of 1 crash per 14.9 years
2. Brownsville, TX
3. Madison, WI
4. Huntsville, AL
5. Cape Coral, FL

Now for our “not top 5”, or “Worst Driver’s In America”:
5. Springfield, MA
4. Washington, DC
3. Worcester, MA
2. Baltimore, MD
1. Boston, MA – with an average of 1 crash every 3.6 years

So what does this data tells us?

It appears that the worst cities in America to drive in are in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. Baltimore and D.C., the two major metropolitan regions we serve here, are amongst the worst cities to drive in in the country. I have written similar blog posts in the past regarding the previous years All-State save driving reports. These previous reports seem to indicate the same reasons why, over and over, the same cities appear to have higher crash rates and an increased likelihood of motor vehicle collision.

1. City infrastructure – Anyone who lives in an older city is aware of the tight city streets designed more for horse and buggies than for cars. Additionally, if these other top 5 worst cities are anything like Baltimore they have crumbling city infrastructure with tons of pot holes and that can lead to swerving and poor driving practices.

2. Population density – As the baby boomers and millenials each move to cities in droves population spikes quickly without the resources to account for increased motor vehicle congestion on the roads. If you think parking in Canton after 5 pm is bad, try parking in Boston around Fenway during a Red Sox game.

3. Distracted driving – When was the last time you pulled up to an intersection, glanced over at another car, and didn’t see the other drive glancing down to look at their phones? I see it all the time. A famous online though leader Gary Vaynerchuck recently opined that billboards are or will soon be obsolete because something like 60 percent of drivers are texting and driving. I don’t know if that statistic is true but it wouldn’t surprise me. This also would account for people driving with a cell phone in their hand – which is illegal in Maryland.

4. Poorly planned or executed mass transit – I suspect that NYC would have faired far worse on this list but for its well developed mass transit infrastructure. Although I think the Baltimore LINK bus improvements will help with congestion and traffic, an underground rail would alleviate some of these problems. I don’t know how feasible this mass transit solution would be in older cities such as Baltimore and D.C., but the point is where there are people in cars there are crashes. And where there are crashes, there are injuries.

That’s why the team at Mid-Atlantic Spinal Rehab & Chiropractic is here to help. We treat injuries from motor vehicle collisions and car accidents all day every day. If you, or someone you know, has been injured in a car accident in Baltimore, and has suffered headaches, neck pain, or back pain from a car accident please contact us at (443) 842-5500. We will do our best to get you seen today. We provide on-site digital x-rays and we work closely with local medical physicians if you require a referral for medical care.

So put your phone down and drive safe!

Dr. Gulitz