Does Baltimore Have Some of the Worst Drivers?

By Amber Woods

You’re driving through Baltimore and someone walks out in front of you. You slam your brakes and the tires squeal. Crazy pedestrians.

Just a few blocks away your heart is still racing when someone cuts into your traffic lane.

Does this sound like a regular Baltimore afternoon commute to you?

If so, the results of the annual “America’s Best Drivers Report” published by Allstate Insurance Company may not surprise you.

The reports’ data is used to determine how often drivers in the largest 200 cities get into accidents. That said, the report is hardly all encompassing considering Allstate only insures about 10 percent of U.S. drivers and doesn’t take into account certain situations like fatalities.

Though the report is designed to celebrate the cities with the “best drivers,” many find it equally entertaining to check out which cities would benefit from going back to Drivers Education classrooms, according to Allstate.

This year’s published report was light-heartedly dissected bySlate to determine what city writers believe could have the worst drivers in America. And despite the metrics being skewed and prodded in good humor, things still didn’t look good for Baltimore.

Slate chose to look at the following four indicators: years between traffic accidents; automotive fatalities; alcohol-related driving deaths; and pedestrian strikes.

According to the results, Baltimore was ranked No. 5 in “worst drivers,” claiming the city was just outside the top 10 in fatalities, DWI-related deaths, and pedestrian strikes, and collision rates kept the city in the top five overall.

Worse than Baltimore (in from worst to even worse) were Tampa, FL, Hialeah, FL, Philadelphia and Miami, which ranked No. 1 with the most automotive fatalities, pedestrian strikes and obscenity-laced tirades of its fellow drivers.

And in 2012, even when Slate wasn’t the judge, Baltimore didn’t fare much better. According to the annual Allstate report, the “worst drivers” were found in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore was in second place.

Sure, the credibility of polls, surveys, and even public opinion can be questioned. But it’s probably still a good idea to know what you’re getting into when traveling the streets of Baltimore.