D.C. drivers are more likely to be in auto accidents than drivers in any other city in the country, and Alexandria and Arlington drivers follow closely behind, according to a new study.
D.C. drivers average one accident every 5.4 years, making them almost three times more collision-prone that drivers in Sioux Falls, S.D., which ranked as the safest driving city in the 2008 Allstate America’s Best Drivers report.
The number means D.C. drivers are 84 percent more likely to be in an accident than the average driver nationally and places the city as the most dangerous for drivers among the 193 studied.
Alexandria and Arlington ranked as the 11th-and 13th-most-dangerous cities, with drivers 42 percent and 41 percent more likely to be in accidents than the average driver nationally, respectively.
Alexandria drivers average one accident every seven years, and Arlington drivers one every 7.1 years.
“All three of those areas suffer from the same affliction: gridlockitis,” AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend said. “And that has many side effects, including wrecks.”
The Washington area ranks as the second-most-congested in the country, tying with Atlanta and San Francisco and trailing only Los Angeles.
Washington drivers spend an average of 60 hours a year sitting in traffic, up from 16 hours in 1984, according to the 2007 Urban Mobility Report.
“Another factor is the aggressive driving we see in this area,” Townsend said. “When you’re stuck in traffic and it’s bumper to bumper, there’s no room for margin of error. I think people just take toomany chances and take too many risks out of frustration.”
Area drivers can glean some good news from the Allstate numbers: Accident rates in all three of the listed jurisdictions dropped slightly from last year.
In 2007, D.C. drivers were 89 percent more likely to get into accidents than the national average. Alexandria and Arlington drivers were 52 percent and 47 percent more accident-prone than drivers throughout the country, respectively.
The insurance giant evaluated figures from the claims filed with them in 2006.
