Allstate's Best Drivers Report tackles winter hazards

As New Year's Day, one of the deadliest days on the roadⁱ, approaches, Allstate's America's Best Drivers Report^®ii reveals motorists in certain cities are safer drivers when making their way through winter weather road hazards.

Allstate's report finds that when factoring precipitation with auto property damage claim frequency, Brownsville, Texas, has the safest drivers.

"As you wrap up the busy holiday season and look forward to ringing in 2017, please use extra caution, especially on dangerous evenings when hazards like drunk drivers and winter weather are prevalent," said Glenn Shapiro, Allstate's chief claims officer. "While celebrating this joyful time, it's important to remember what matters most – our loved ones and neighbors – and to protect them by driving carefully through precarious conditions on the roads."

Allstate discovered the following are the top 10 safest-driving cities, when factoring auto property damage claims with precipitation, as measured by NOAAⁱⁱⁱ:

Safest Drivers  Rank with Precipitation	City	NOAA Average Precipitation (inches/year)	Average Years Between Collisions	Accident  Likelihood (Compared to national average of every 10 years)
1	Brownsville, Texas	27.4	14.6	-31.4%
2	Kansas City, Kan.	39.1	13.6	-26.3%
3	Cape Coral, Fla.	55.9	12.9	-22.3%
4	Madison, Wis.	37.3	13.3	-24.7%
5	Port St. Lucie, Fla.	63.7	12.5	-20.1%
6	Huntsville, Ala.	54.3	12.7	-21.4%
7	Olathe, Kan.	41.9	12.4	-19.6%
8	Wichita, Kan.	32.6	12.5	-19.7%
9	Boise, Idaho	11.7	12.8	-22.1%
10	Springfield, Mo.	45.6	11.8	-15.4%

"Wintry weather creates hazards as we go about our holiday errands and get-togethers, but it's also important to recognize that the year-round problem of drinking and driving spikes on New Year's Day," said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Jan. 1 is the deadliest day on the road for crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver, pedestrian or bicyclist. It's also the deadliest day of the year for passenger vehicle occupants. If you're celebrating with alcohol over the holidays, make the proper arrangements ahead of time to get home safely. And buckle up on every trip as more traffic brings more crashes of all kinds."

The U.S. Department of Transportation says that from March 2015 to February 2016 Americans drove 3.15 trillion miles, an increase of more than 3 percent over the previous 12 months and the largest year-to-year increase in over two decades.^iv According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 35,000 roadway fatalities occurred last year, the highest count since 2008.^v

Allstate's 12^th annual America's Best Drivers Report^® underscores the company's commitment to helping to make roads safer for its customers and other drivers. Using property damage claims reported between January 2013 and December 2014, the report ranks America's largest 200 cities by auto property damage claim frequency, to determine which cities have the safest drivers. Brownsville, Texas, also tops the list – followed by Kansas City, Kan., and Madison, Wis., in second and third respectively – when just considering claim frequency without precipitation.

Allstate's report also provides insight into braking habits in more than 100 cities across the country, using hard-braking data culled from Allstate's Drivewise^® offering, an innovative technology that enables consumers to monitor their driving habits to improve safety and gain rewards.^vi

Visit www.allstate.com/BestDriversReport for complete 2016 results. To help keep precipitation from causing a collision, Allstate offers these tips:

• Get your vehicle ready for extreme weather. Prepare yourself for dangerous situations. Ensure your headlights and brake lights are in working condition, along with your tires, heater, defroster, brakes and windshield wipers, and that you have enough windshield wiper fluid.
• Respect the weather. Take extra care if you encounter ice, snow, fog, rain or other dangerous weather conditions. Increasing following distance, traveling at slower speeds and accounting for the extra stopping time winter weather requires are all good ways to avoid collisions.
• Keep your full attention on the road. Make sure you're 100 percent focused on the road, especially with slick streets and potentially dangerous conditions.
• Stay calm in a skid. If your vehicle begins to slide or skid, don't panic. Look down the road in the direction you want to go and gently steer in that direction. Don't slam on the brakes. That will upset the vehicle's balance and make it harder to regain control. Instead, just release the accelerator until traction returns.
• Keep an emergency kit in your car. Make sure you have the tools you need to protect yourself, should a problem arise. Pack a kit with gloves, boots, blankets, flares, a brush, water, jumper cables, a flashlight and something for traction, such as sand or kitty litter.
• Make sure you are prepared for any roadside mishap or car failure. Download Allstate's Good Hands Rescue® app and get on demand roadside assistance when and where you need it from the Apple Store or Google Play Store, or via the mobile website at m.GoodHandsRescue.com.

Allstate also strongly urges drivers to plan ahead and always find a sober ride home before partaking in holiday festivities. If you see another person drunk, take their keys or report them to authorities if they are already on the road. For more tips, visit The Allstate Blog or contact an Allstate agent.

About IIHS
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is an independent, nonprofit scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses — deaths, injuries and property damage — from crashes on the nation's roads. The Institute is wholly supported by auto insurers.