Report: Santa Rosa has state's 2nd safest drivers
Motorcycle traffic enforcement officers Jeff Adams, left, and Steve Dineen watch for violators Thursday near College and Mendocino avenues in Santa Rosa.
CRISTA JEREMIASON/ PDPublished: Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 7:41 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 7:41 p.m.
Santa Rosa roads keep climbing the ranks of safest places to drive, at least if you believe the results of one insurance company.
The city was rated the second safest for California drivers, according to an Allstate Insurance Company analysis of accident claims released Thursday.
Yet even after two years in the number three slot, the news stunned some locals.
“Really?” said 21-year-old Kathleen Hohnstein, who works at a law firm in Courthouse Square.
“That surprises me,” said Beth Hatch, a “fast but safe” motorist who lives in Bennett Valley.
The ranking comes from the annual “America's Best Drivers” report by Allstate. The findings were based on the number of property damage claims filed for incidents in the country's cities in 2007 and 2008.
The average driver experiences a collision once every 10 years, according to the company.
Santa Rosa drivers average one crash every 10.2 years.
Motorists in Salinas fared the best, with one collision every 11.4 years. The insurance company placed the worst drivers in Glendale, where drivers average 5.9 crashes every 10 years, the report said.
The ranking won't lower insurance rates for the region. Voters passed a proposition in 1988 that required insurance companies to base rates on a driver's number of years licensed, how many miles they drive and their driving record, said Tully Lehman, with the Insurance Information Network of California, an industry trade group.
But the study offers a reminder that driving is among the most dangerous activities people do on a daily basis, said Jim Klapthor, an Allstate spokesman.
Vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death among teens, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Looking at all deaths spanning 1996 to 2007, crashes were the number one cause of death for everyone ages 44 and younger, according to center data.
“I have to commend the Allstate drivers,” said Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Rich Celli, who helps run the traffic unit. “Our data is a lot different.”
Santa Rosa police are making more arrests than past years for driving under the influence and seeing more distracted drivers on the road, Celli said. They're also finding more people without insurance or driver's licenses, a small but significant number, he said.
Motorists without insurance often don't have driver's licenses and may never have gone through driving training program that includes safe driving skills, Celli said.
“There's a direct correlation to having a trained driver as opposed to an untrained driver,” Celli said.
Officers have responded to 1,017 collision reports since the start of the year, Celli said. That's about four per day.
The CHP in Sonoma County reported a steady decline in crashes, Sgt. Robert Mota said.
In 2009, 26 people were killed in collisions, and the number represents a steady decline. In 2006, 43 people died in collisions, Mota said.
The bad economy has kept some drivers off the road, Mota said. Enforcement has also stepped up across all agencies, playing a role in the numbers, Mota and Celli said.
Still, Santa Rosa's improvement came as no surprise to some who spend their days on the road.
“Way to go Santa Rosa,” said Joe England, who drives a Route 2 bus for the city, a job he's held for five years.
“That doesn't surprise me, given the hours I spend on the road,” England said.
The data also rang true with Alex Escalante, who spends half the work day on the roads transporting bulk mail for Point to Point.
“I've never had a problem,” Escalante, 28, of Petaluma said. “I rarely see car accidents.”
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