• 03
  • September
    2010

Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, D.C. were ranked at the very bottom of Allstate's "America's Best Drivers Report" this year. The insurance company's yearly publication looks at the 200 most populous cities in America and then rates them based on the frequency of collision to determine which cities are the safest and which are the most hazardous.

Washington was found to have an average of 5.1 years between motor vehicle accidents, while Baltimore sat just above them at 5.6 years between crashes. Drivers in Baltimore were close to 80 percent more likely to get into an accident than the average American driver.

The safest city was Fort Collins, Colorado. Citizens there average more than 14 years between car accidents.

According to the Allstate Claim Organization's senior vice president, most of these accidents are the result of driver error and inattention. Much of this inattention is directed at mobile phone usage in the car.

Maryland bans texting in the car, but does not penalize drivers for reading messages. While texting is a primary offense in Maryland, meaning that drivers can be pulled over for it alone, using a handheld device is only a secondary offense.

While mobile phones and handheld devices aren't the only cause of driver distraction, they are a major one. If you are driving in Baltimore, make sure you stay alert and engaged on the road. Allstate strongly recommends it. 

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