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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| D.C. Drivers Worst in the Nation - Allstate Study |
| 2008-07-01 |
| An insurance study has once again found that Sioux Falls has the safest drivers in the nation, marking the third straight year that South Dakota's largest city has topped the list. Officials in Sioux Falls again attributed the ranking to strong traffic engineering and driver education programs. Might it have something to do with the scarcity of Orcs? Researchers with Allstate Insurance Co. analyzed two years of internal crash data to calculate the chance that drivers in 193 of the nation's most populated cities would be involved in an accident. Following Sioux Falls were Fort Collins, Colo.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Sterling Heights, Mich.; Warren, Mich.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Lexington, Ky.; and Detroit. Motorists in Washington, D.C., were most at risk, according to the study, averaging an accident once every 5.4 years. Drivers in Detroit, ranked 11th in population, are likely to experience a crash once every 12.4 years, the best among cities with between 500,000 and 1 million people. Phoenix ranks the highest for safety among cities with more than 1 million people with a collision likely once every 9.8 years. Massachusetts' cities were not included as the company does not write policies in the state. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #16 Gotta agree. Boston road layouts based on 17th centruy cow paths so you need the mind of a 17th century cow to drive them. And Boston drivers prove that every time I'm there. Only place I've ever been not in the third world where people TRIPLE park at times (double parking is routine in Boston to pop into a store to get a drink, food or smokes) |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-07-01 22:14 |
| #15 Massachusetts' cities were not included as the company does not write policies in the state. So this thing has no validity whatsoever... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-07-01 20:36 |
| #14 Is work! |
| Posted by: Pierre L. Ded 2008-07-01 20:30 |
| #13 I resemble that remark. Which part, Sea? LOL |
| Posted by: lotp 2008-07-01 17:11 |
| #12 My first time driving in DC, my wife and I got lost going to dinner. My wife, who didn't drive at the time, claimed she knew DC "like the back of her hand" from having visited several times with her parents. Of course, she would tell me "you need to turn left here" when I was in the right hand lane of a 6 lane road. Eventually, I stopped at a stop sign, put the car in park, and insisted I was going to wait until a cop arrested me and put me in jail - at least that way I would have something to eat, and a place to sleep. To this day, I don't know how we got home to Rockville. |
| Posted by: Rambler in California 2008-07-01 17:03 |
| #11 I'm probably the only person in the world who thinks it's not hard to navigate in DC (notice I didn't say "drive" - at least not on a weekday when the place is filled with idiots). Most people make the mistake of trying to drive someplace using the "spokes" of the wheel, then get turned around and headed the wrong way at the first traffic circle they come to. I finally figured out the best thing to do is take the long way: figure out what cross-street I need to end up on; drive up a north/south street until I reach the cross-street, then turn left or right as needed and head to my destination. Unless any of those streets pass through a circle; then I move over one street before heading north/south and/or turn onto a higher or lower cross-street than the one I need until I'm past the circle. Once I figured that out, it was a piece of cake. Haven't done much driving in DC in a number of years, but I doubt they've moved the streets. ;-p |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-07-01 15:23 |
| #10 Beltway sucks. Fricken Kamikazes in sedans were a menace what I was at Ft Meade long time ago. I can imagine its gotten ever worse from Glen Burnie on in in the past decade. I do remember Diplo tags were to be avoided - those guys drove like they just didn't care. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-07-01 14:51 |
| #9 "Massachusetts' cities were not included..." Well there you go!! We've retired the trophy!!!! Friend who learned to drive in LA and lived in StLou, Chicago, NYC, WDC and Seattle had never been to Boston. Liked to drive his big block GTO fast! Came through Boston from Cow Hampshire heading for Cape Cod Rt 93 / 3 north to south....... at 4:00 PM on a summer Friday. Got to the house about 10:00 - 6 hours for a 100 mile drive. First words out of his mouth? THEY'RE CRAZY!!! THEY'RE ALL FUCKING CRAZY!!!!!! Yep, and proud of it. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2008-07-01 14:31 |
| #8 My friends and I prefer 'tourons'. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2008-07-01 12:38 |
| #7 I've always contended that DC roads may very well be the most confusing and difficult to navigate in any major metro area. I wouldn't be surprised if that has more than a little something to do with it. I came to DC from the NYC area and as anyone who has driven into and out of (as well as around and inside) Manhattan knows, it's no cakewalk. So I thought I had a pretty good driving resume. That was until I moved to DC and it took me a good 2-3 years, probably more, to get comfortable knowing my way around the District. Too many traffic circles and squares, plus a plethora of streets that turn one-way during rush-hour, not to mention all the tourist buses and tourists in rental cars that don't know there way around along with all the monuments and museums that they are all trying to get to. It's a mess. As a little play on words, I've taken to referring to the tourists in DC in the same way that Bush pronounces "terrorists," like "turrists." Silly, I know, but my girlfriend gets a kick out of it. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2008-07-01 12:31 |
| #6 I resemble that remark. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2008-07-01 11:57 |
| #5 Roads designed by a Frenchman. Unlike Massachusetts where the roads were designed by cows. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-07-01 11:49 |
| #4 The locals know, bigjim, and I'm just local enough to know how confusing DC proper is. Park your car and take the Metro. That's what I do. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2008-07-01 11:42 |
| #3 Most of my time spent driving in DC was trying to figure out how to get onto the street I needed to be on. I stopped and asked directions from an old man on a corner once and he told me "you can't get there from here". Frustration and confusion must make a considerable impact on their traffic stats. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-07-01 11:24 |
| #2 DC is best travel in a cheap rental car with full insurance. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-07-01 11:09 |
| #1 I have to wonder how wide "Washington, DC" extends in terms of their definition. I got creamed at the corner waiting for a left arrow just a month ago. Thankfully I didn't see it coming and was therefore more relaxed at impact than otherwise. |
| Posted by: Grenter Protector of the Geats4975 2008-07-01 09:36 |