The driving habits of your city’s or state’s residents influence insurance rates – as well as the likelihood of collisions. In its eighth annual report, Allstate ranked drivers in the nation’s 200 largest cities, and while Sioux Falls, SD has the best and Washington, D.C. the worst, two of Connecticut’s largest cities, Bridgeport and New Haven, made it into the top 25.
The insurance company claims its “Allstate America’s Best Driver’s Report” is compiled to increase awareness of safe driving and states that, while the U.S. experiences 32,000 auto-related fatalities per year, rates are the lowest they’ve been since 1949.
What differentiates “good” drivers from “bad” ones? Although the Allstate report does not go into detail, a Washington Examiner lists reasons for its city’s poor record. Washington, D.C.’s drivers experience double the rate of accidents as the rest of the country, and the Examiner attributes drivers’ alertness, aggressiveness, and ignoring the rules of the road to this distinction.
While Connecticut drivers placed slightly lower on Allstate’s list, the same habits likely apply. This past holiday weekend, WFUV reported, Connecticut state police responded to 175 accidents on state highways and charged 41 individuals with drunk driving. During this time, car crashes in the state resulted in 40 injuries and one fatality.
While, if an accident occurs, working with an attorney to decipher insurance jargon and to obtain justice is recommended, what measures to improve poor driving habits are occurring around the state?
In New Canaan, Don’t Text and Drive Day was just passed unanimously by the town’s Board of Selectmen. Based on AT&T’s recent efforts, Don’t Text and Drive Day is scheduled for September 19.
In East Haven, the local division of Patch.com polled readers about unsafe driving areas and, ultimately, sparked a discussion about streets with speeding or running red lights or areas with poor driving conditions.
The Department of Motor Vehicles recently declared September to be a monthly crackdown on unsafe trucks. Accidents, in Connecticut and other locations, are not relegated strictly to cars, and trucks threaten the safety of motorists on a greater scale. During this month, the DMV plans to monitor reckless driving, speeding, tailgating, and unsafe lane changes in accident-prone corridors all over the state.
