Pittsburgh ranks near the bottom on driver safety report

Pittsburgh motorists have every reason to be concerned about car accidents when they hit the roads. A recent report by Allstate Insurance ranked the 200 largest cities in the United States for driver safety based on collision data for its policyholders for 2011 and 2012. According to the report, Pittsburgh drivers are more likely to be involved in a collision than most of the other big city drivers.

Pittsburgh’s ranking has dropped every year for the past six years. This year the city came in at number 187. Even worse, Pittsburgh ranked last among cities with populations of 250,000 to 499,999. Pittsburgh managed to beat out Philadelphia, which was named the most dangerous city among those with over a million people. Overall, Pittsburgh motorists were 51.3 percent more likely to be involved in car accidents than United States drivers as a whole. The typical Pittsburgh driver is in a collision once every 6.6 years, while the national average is one collision every 10 years.

Cities like Pittsburgh that have a low ranking on the list are often concerned about what is causing these driver safety issues. An Allstate spokeswoman believes that Pittsburgh’s bridges, tunnels and congestion makes it hard for commuters to drive through, and therefore more accidents occur. However, Allstate does not consider whether factors such as road conditions and weather play a role in the accidents that occur.

Preventing accidents can be as simple as not driving while distracted. The simple act of paying attention to the road can save countless lives and can save families from the devastating loss of a loved one.

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Pittsburgh ranks among worst for frequency of crashes,” Jon Schmitz, Aug. 27, 2014