Cincinnati drivers, you're slightly better than average.

That is Allstate Insurance Company's view, supported by its internal review of car crash statistics across the United States. In the company's sixth annual survey, Cincinnati ranks 79th out of 200 cities on data that measure the likelihood of being involved in a motor vehicle accident.

The methodology works this way: Allstate first looks at company claims to determine the national average for a "likelihood of a crash." Then it scrutinizes accident numbers for America's 200 largest metropolitan areas, comparing them to that average.

The results indicate that drivers in Washington, D.C., are more likely than those anywhere else to be involved in a car accident. On average, drivers there get into a collision once every 5.1 years, which equates to a 96 percent higher chance than for drivers in the country generally (the national average is 10 years). Baltimore presents only a slightly less dangerous driving environment, coming in second worst with a crash for any given driver once every 5.6 years.

"The intent of the report is to facilitate a national discussion on safe driving," says Kate Hollcraft, an Allstate spokesperson.

It has certainly done that, with traffic and safety officials from various regions pointing out that the numbers for any given metropolitan area involve not just innate driving skills, but also the unique traffic and road circumstances at work there, such as congestion, weather and other factors.
Here are a few additional rankings from within Ohio based on, again, the 200 largest metropolitan areas:

• Dayton -  12
• Cleveland - 37
• Columbus - 118

Nationally, Phoenix and San Diego topped the safety list for urban areas of more than one million residents.

Related Resource: www.news.cincinnati.com "D.C. tops in car crashes; Cincy near US avg." September 3, 2010