Oregon Public Broadcasting

An insurance company ranking finds that Boise and Eugene are home to the best drivers in the Northwest. But correspondent Tom Banse reports there's room for improvement in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland.

The Allstate insurance company crunched accident claims data for 200 cities nationwide to compile a list of the safest and scariest driving communities.

Eugene and Boise drove into the top ten safest cities for the first time this year.

In our region, Allstate Insurance spokeswoman Kathy Powell says Puget Sound drivers pull up the rear.

Kathy Powell: “It's kind of good news-bad news situation for Tacoma and Seattle. They did rank low overall within the 200 cities. But we did see some good improvement with them as well. In fact, Tacoma jumped up 20 spots from last year.”

The rankings show drivers in bigger cities tend to be more accident prone.

The average Portland or Seattle driver went 8 to 9 years between crashes while drivers in Eugene and Boise filed an accident claim about once every 12 years.

Either way, that's markedly better than the nation's worst drivers, which Allstate found in the Baltimore-Washington DC area.

Web extras:

Allstate “America's Best Drivers Report”

Northwest cities on Allstate insurance ranking of America's best and worst drivers:

Rank/City (Nat'l Rank) Average Years Between Collisions Collision Likelihood Compared to National Average

1. Eugene (8) 11.9 16.3% less likely
2. Boise (9) 11.8 15.4% less likely
3. Spokane (34) 10.6 5.6% less likely
4. Salem (72) 9.6 3.7% more likely
5. Vancouver, WA (77) 9.6 4.6% more likely
6. Portland (113) 8.8 14.1% more likely
7. Seattle (134) 8.3 21.0% more likely
8. Tacoma (150) 7.9 26.2% more likely