Unsafe Chicago Driving Earns City Low Ranking In Nationwide Survey (VIDEO)

Although Chicago has moved up 10 points since last year, an annual safe driving report ranks the city's drivers in the bottom quarter of 200 American cities. The city was ranked 157th this year, ABC Chicago reports.

Surrounding cities didn't fare much better, as Naperville ranked 125th, bested by Aurora at 112th, and Joliet at 96th.

The study also found that motorists in Chicago average an accident about every 7.7 years, CBS Chicago reports. For the second year in a row, Fort Collins, Colo., was named the safest place to drive.

Allstate said in a statement that they don't want Chicagoans to be alarmed by these results, but rather, they hope they'll feel inspired to drive more safely.

“We don’t want drivers in Chicago to be discouraged by their ranking," Judith Dodd, Allstate Territory Sales Leader in Illinois, said. "Instead, we want the report to challenge drivers in Chicago to make positive changes to their driving habits that will in turn make the city a safer place to live, work and raise families.”

The study's findings are based on examinations of vehicle collision frequency, and did not include statistics on automobile damage sustained during disputes over winter parking space dibs.

WATCH a report on Allstate's latest driver safety findings:

Flickr photo by lauraannechamberlain.

Comments

[ChangeAgent007]

07:32 AM on 09/06/2011

Traffic Induced Tourettes Syndrome

I'll let you figure out the acronym. It's a serious condition that affects millions in this country and some have more than others. The only cure is by removing warning labels off of all devices and hope that natural selection will thin the herd.

[salamanca1]

09:08 PM on 09/05/2011

I've driven in Chicago quite a few times, and it's bad, but I'd put Boston right up there, and the expressway on Long Island is not nicknamed the Long Island Distressway for nothing.

[littlebrowngirl]

05:50 PM on 09/03/2011

DC is worse by far. But Chicago drivers do drive too fast and aggressive.

[pslcitizen]

01:37 AM on 09/03/2011

Nice parking job!

[Onion City]

08:58 PM on 09/02/2011

I'm gonna hafta complain about TAXI drivers and senior citizens. The posh suburban jerks you just gotta tolerate, it's like bad stink, comes and goes. I hate Friday rush hours, especially the afternoon one. Yours and others worst instincts come out then and if you're not mean to other road users you feel congested or constricted in the chest, heart attack pending. So, you go off and flip someone off, or ( like me) throw coupla curses here and there. Of course, remorse inevitably follows, which is another thing that I hate.

[xhawk2]

11:51 AM on 09/02/2011

And yet the picture shows a Rover, a car only available in England.

[vh47]

01:01 PM on 09/02/2011

Range rovers are available here in America

[fordpw]

12:27 PM on 09/03/2011

it's a rover compact. Range Rover is a separate division. Rover used to be Leyland built out of Cowley, Oxford in UK. xhawk2 is right. Row houses and roads in the background also give it away. BTW - I do agree with this article Chicago drivers are terrible (in general) and that is not a over simplification the facts speak for themselves.

[DMSmith]

08:08 PM on 09/02/2011

Details, details! LOL

[PalaceOfWisdom]

11:39 AM on 09/02/2011

75MPH is often treated as the minimum speed on expressways, I see dangerous lane changes, sweeping across multiple lanes without signaling, people stepping out of their car street side without looking, distracted driving, etc. It's so bad that I go out of my way to run errands at off hours to ensure that I get home alive. Attention spans have generally shortened, and it has carried over to our roads.

[An Fear Bolg]

11:10 AM on 09/02/2011

It's a perfect storm created by various factors:

-Outdated, overburdened road infrastructure, often with poorly engineered ramps and merges that were built for 1950s traffic needs.
-Ongoing road construction necessitated by the harsh climate's effects on road surfaces
-Poor drivers' education standards
-Weak to non-existent enforcement of speed limits, lane use, and other safe driving laws.
-Speed limits are artificially low; some obey them anyway, creating hazardous driving conditions.
-Too many resident aliens, legal or otherwise, with poor or non-existent driving skills
-Likewise, a large number drivers with high powered German and Japanese imports who treat the highways as their personal Autobahn.
-There are also a lot of unsafe clunkers on the roads
-Trucks can get into accidents too readily, even when handled by experienced professional drivers;
-Cell phone use and texting while driving
-A pervasive mentality of driving-as-a-competitive-sport exists, especially among men. Some appear to take it as an affront to their masculinity to allow another vehicle to pass them, ever.

[nbart71]

01:28 PM on 09/02/2011

As a life long Chicago resident I would agree with all your points. The cell phone/texting while driving has gotten totally out of hand on Chicagoland expressways. The other day I looked around and EVERY car I could see into had a driver looking at their phone an inch away from their face.

[Al Kero]

10:26 AM on 09/02/2011

I disagree. It's the GRAY PANTHERS on I 95 in Florida

[Count DeMonet]

09:57 AM on 09/02/2011

I have never had an accident in Chicago. I have caused a few though....

[suzee q]

09:35 AM on 09/02/2011

Did anyone ever stop to think that it seems that they are bad drivers because of the sheer number of people in vehicles? Chicago, L.A, N.Y, are all congested driving areas, and awful to navigate; there's no getting around that. To me, Indiana and Kentucky have the worst drivers. They tailgate and are left lane bandits in both states. Not to mention Kentucky's lovely narrow roads that are curvy and hilly and make it impossible to pass, so they ride your bumper instead.

[jheing]

08:51 AM on 09/02/2011

I have spent 30 years driving all over the country, and the chicago drivers, particularly on the west and north suburban roads, are the rudest, most careless and just plain worst drivers anywhere, far worse than new york or LA. Central Alabama is bad too, but chicago is unreal. And I grew up in Chicago. Speeds 30 mph over the limit are common on 294 and 355- cops must be somewhere else.

[iuriggs6]

09:55 AM on 09/02/2011

Can't tell you how many times I've been going at least 75 just to keep up with traffic and getting honked at, flipped off or just cut off by some lunatic driver on 294 and 94.

[An Fear Bolg]

11:15 AM on 09/02/2011

Been there, done that! Since when is 75mph slow, especially in a congested area?

[antipodal2u]

08:30 AM on 09/02/2011

“We don’t want drivers in Chicago to be discouraged by their ranking," Judith Dodd, Allstate Territory Sales Leader in Illinois, said.

I do...Chicago drivers DO suck...The left lane is a passing lane not your personal cruising lane. Courtesy is non existent on IL roadways. I wonder, Illinois is a 'dream act' state ( First in the nation) Illegals a part of these problems?

[BlueBird55]

07:26 AM on 09/02/2011

Huh, I'm surprised. Chicago drivers are bad, yes. But good Lord, have you ever driven in St. Louis? How about ATLANTA! I white-knuckle it all the way through Atlanta and don't breathe until we're miles and miles out of the city.

Perhaps it's just whatever you're used to.

[corwin]

08:26 AM on 09/02/2011

As more people leave the city,the accident rate will decrease

[local21]

07:18 AM on 09/02/2011

High risk driving maneuvers are pretty common in Chicago and overall the drivers are pretty bad, but at least someone will stop to help you with a push if you get stuck in the snow.