Study: Washington leads cities in vehicle accidents

Washington had the most accident- prone drivers of any U.S. city for the third straight year, according to Allstate Corp., the biggest publicly traded U.S. auto insurer.

Washington's drivers get in a collision every 5.1 years, meaning that they have a 96 percent higher chance of being in an accident than the average American driver, Allstate said today in a statement. Baltimore was second, with crashes every 5.6 years, or 79 percent higher than the national average. New York, the most populous U.S. city, ranked 159th, with drivers crashing about every eight years.

"It's the way the city's laid out, the way the traffic's set up," said Jim Harris, general manager of AYT Auto Services in Washington. "It's pretty harrowing. There's quite a bit of body business. Especially with any kind of inclement weather, it overloads us."

Allstate's annual survey analyzed company claims data for 2007 and 2008 to determine the likelihood of crashes in America's 200 largest cities. U.S. motorists, who curtailed driving in 2008 amid higher gas costs and a recession, have returned to the road. Car travel rose 1.3 percent in June compared with a year earlier, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

The District Department of Transportation promotes "strict enforcement of distracted-driving regulations," said John Lisle, a spokesman for the Washington organization. The group is "an advocate for safe roadway practices."

Allstate's auto policies make up 11 percent of the U.S. market, according to the statement. The study excluded cities in Massachusetts, where the insurer didn't sell car coverage in 2007 and 2008.

Safe Driving"The intent of the report is to facilitate a national discussion on safe driving," said Kate Hollcraft, a spokeswoman for Northbrook-based Allstate. The national average for the period between collisions has been about 10 years for the six years the company has conducted the study, she said.Phoenix and San Diego fared the best out of the cities with a population more than 1 million. Fort Collins, Colorado, ranked first overall, with drivers having an average of 14.5 years between collisions.Allstate slipped 5 cents to $28.62 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and has dropped 4.7 percent this year.