Louisiana Cities Show Improvement on the 11th Annual "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report™"

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Allstate Insurance Company released its eleventh annual "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report®" which ranks America's 200 largest cities in terms of car collision frequency and emphasizes Allstate's commitment to keeping roadways safer. New Orleans increased their overall ranking on the report, while Baton Rouge earned an impressive ranking when considering hard braking incidents.

• New Orleans jumped 23 spots in driver safety to #158 on this year's report with drivers going an average of 7.4 years between collisions.
• Baton Rouge ranked as the 3^rd safest city in the Southern Region* for hard braking events. Drivers here experience 16.5 hard braking events for every 1,000 miles driven, beating the national average. Overall, the city ranked #145 with an average of 7.9 years between collisions.
• Kansas City, KS is recognized as the safest driving city in America with the average driver experiencing an auto collision every 13.3 years, which is 24.8 percent less likely than the national average of every 10 years.

"As a trusted advisor to Allstate customers in Louisiana we're sharing these report results to help them become safer drivers," said Alex Bellow, Allstate Agent. "New Orleans and Baton Rouge drivers should not get discouraged by their ranking; instead focusing on behaviors like slowing down, leaving room between you and other drivers, and minimizing distractions will help New Orleans's drivers to improve their driving skills."

The information about braking habits – a key factor in collisions – is new to the report this year. Allstate pulled braking habits data from approximately 100 cities nationally from its Drivewise® offering, an innovative technology that allows consumers to monitor their driving habits to improve safety and gain discounts on their insurance, to determine braking trends. A hard braking event is defined as slowing down eight miles per hour or more over a one-second time interval.

Allstate found a correlation between hard braking and collision frequency. Cities with higher collision frequency also recorded more hard braking events. Nationally, on average, a driver will experience 16 hard braking events for every 1,000 miles driven.

In addition, Allstate also pulled data on population density and precipitation. For more information on how a cities' ranking can change when factoring in these challenging roadway conditions, visit the report's homepage and interactive map at www.allstate.com/BestDriversReport.

*Allstate's Southern Region is defined as Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana.

The Allstate America's Best Drivers Report® 
For the past 11 years, Allstate actuaries have conducted an in-depth analysis of company claims data to determine the likelihood drivers in America's 200 largest cities will experience a vehicle collision compared to the national average. Reported property damage claims were analyzed over a two-year period (from January 2012 to December 2013).

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, an estimated 32,675 car crash fatalities occurred in 2014. Additionally, Allstate research found that 70 percent of vehicles involved in auto claims are considered drivable, which indicates that most claims are the result of low-speed (under 35 miles per hour) collisions. Allstate utilizes the America's Best Drivers Report to remind drivers to stay vigilant behind the wheel and protect themselves from challenging driving conditions.

About Allstate
The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life's uncertainties through auto, home, life and other insurance offered through its Allstate, Esurance, Encompass and Answer Financial brand names. Allstate is widely known through the slogan "You're In Good Hands With Allstate^®." The Allstate brand's network of small businesses offers auto, home, life and retirement products and services to customers in the United States and Canada. In the 20 years since Allstate became a fully independent public company, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate, its employees and agency owners have donated more than $405 million to support local communities.

^[1] The Allstate America's Best Drivers Report® tabulates property damage collision frequency of Allstate insured drivers from 2012-2013.The report analyzes the 200 largest cities from the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Estimates of the Population for Incorporated Places over 50,000, measured for 2013 as of July 1, 2014. In prior years, neighboring cities that shared zip codes also shared rankings. This only impacted a minimal number of cities; however, in 2014 and 2015, the report used geolocation to increase accuracy and there are no longer shared rankings. U.S. Census Bureau data was used to obtain the population density factor. For the precipitation factor, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data was utilized. Allstate Drivewise® data is based on Allstate customers voluntarily enrolled in the telematics program from 2010-2014. A number of cities from the full 200 Best Drivers rankings are excluded in the Drivewise data due to the limited measurable data available, or because Drivewise was not available (California, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas). The Allstate Best Drivers Report is produced solely to boost the country's discussion about safe driving and to increase awareness of the importance of being safe and attentive behind the wheel. The report is not used to determine auto insurance rates.

SOURCE Allstate Insurance Company

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