Santa Clarita drivers might still be below average, but believe it or not, they’re improving.
Sure, Soledad Canyon Road might still turn into a racetrack at certain times of the day, and Sand Canyon Road is awaiting some “traffic calming” measures that the city is working on now, after a pair of fatal, high-speed collisions in the last two years. But by and large, Santa Clarita residents are crashing into each other – and stationary objects – a little less frequently than they were a couple of years ago.
Maybe it’s the red-light cameras and the associated fines that are compelling drivers to stop at intersections rather than blow the light and run into each other.
Who knows?
What we do know is that according to the latest annual “safest driving city” report from auto insurer Allstate, released Wednesday, the typical Allstate-insured Santa Clarita driver experiences a collision once every 9.2 years.
That’s an improvement from 2011, when Allstate reported that Santa Clarita drivers were colliding once every 8.8 years.
“We salute their best drivers and recognize their safe driving skills, which make all of our communities safer places to live, work and raise families,” Allstate VP Phil Telgenhoff said in a statement.
His statement notes that in 2012, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported the first annual increase since 2005 in traffic fatalities statewide.
Among the state’s 200 largest cities, rural Visalia held its No. 1 position as California’s safest city for driving, according to the report. The typical Visalian waits 12.3 years between collisions and is 18.5 percent less likely to experience a collision than the state average.
Runners-up among the 200 largest were Salinas (10.3 years), Bakersfield and Fresno (10.1 years each).
Fresno might be California’s homicide capital, but at least its residents are safer drivers.
Santa Clarita ranks 103rd safest out of the 200 largest cities – just below the norm – and its residents are 8.3 percent more likely to crash into each other than the typical Californian.
At the rate we’re going, with a bit more effort, Santa Clarita drivers could work their way up to “average” by this time next year.
SCV Drivers 8.3% More Likely to Crash – and That's Better
