Santa Rosa drivers toot your horns: You’re the second best drivers in California, according to Allstate insurance.
Salinas drivers were rated No. 1 in the state for the second year in a row.
Nationally, motorists in Fort Collins, Colo., were the best, with Salinas at No. 15 and Santa Rosa at No. 61.
The Allstate ratings are based on the frequency of car collisions. The company’s sixth annual report said the average driver in the largest U.S. cities can expect to be in a collision about every 10 years. For Santa Rosa, it was every 10.2 years.
Here are how California cities ranked, followed by their national ranking and average years between accidents:
1. Salinas 15 11.4
2. Santa Rosa 61 10.2
3. Ontario 72 9.9
4. Palmdale 73 9.9
5. Lancaster 75 9.8
6. Fresno 78 9.8
7. Bakersfield 81 9.7
8. Modesto 82 9.7
9. San Bernardino 83 9.7
10. Chula Vista 86 9.7
11. Huntington Beach 87 9.7
12. Pomona 95 9.5
13. Fontana 98 9.5
14. Orange 101 9.3
15. San Diego 103 9.2
16. Stockton 108 9.2
17. Thousand Oaks 109 9.2
18. Oceanside 110 9.1
19. Rancho Cucamonga 112 9.0
20. Oxnard 115 9.0
21. Moreno Valley 116 9.0
22. Riverside 117 8.9
23. Escondido 119 8.9
24. Santa Ana 120 8.9
25. Long Beach 121 8.9
26. Hayward 122 8.8
27. Sacramento 127 8.6
28. Corona 130 8.6
29. San Jose 131 8.6
30. Santa Clarita 135 8.5
31. Elk Grove 138 8.4
32. Anaheim 139 8.4
33. Sunnyvale 143 8.3
34. Irvine 149 8.1
35. Torrance 150 8.0
36. Fremont 152 8.0
37. Oakland 153 8.0
38. Pasadena 160 7.7
39. Fullerton 164 7.6
40. Garden Grove 166 7.6
41. El Monte 169 7.5
42. Los Angeles 183 6.9
43. San Francisco 185 6.7
44. Glendale 191 5.9
Here are the top 10 cities nationally, followed by their average years between accidents:
1 Fort Collins, Colo. 14.5
2 Chattanooga, Tenn. 12.9
3 Boise 12.9
4 Colorado Springs 12.5
5 Knoxville, TN 12.4
6 Eugene, Ore. 12.2
7 Reno 12.2
8 Huntsville, Ala. 12.2
9 Lincoln, Neb. 12.2
10 Cedar Rapids, Iowa 12.0
Here are how the nation’s 15 largest cities ranked, followed by their overall national ranking and the average years between accidents:
1. Indianapolis 44 10.6
2. Jacksonville 69 9.9
3. Phoenix 74 9.8
4. San Diego 103 9.2
5. Detroit 114 9.0
6. Columbus, Ohio 118 8.9
7. San Jose 131 8.6
8. New York 159 7.8
9. Houston 161 7.7
10. San Antonio 163 7.7
11. Chicago 167 7.6
12. Dallas 173 7.4
13. Los Angeles 183 6.9
14. San Francisco 185 6.7
15. Philadelphia 187 6.5
Do you agree with the No. 2 rating for Santa Rosa? Feel free to leave a comment below.
anonymous
This is the BIGGEST JOKE I’ve ever seen. I grew up in San Francsico, and I would drive there over this town anyday, anytime. I have never in my life seen such horrible drivers in my life. Cutting people off, almost hitting you, red light runners at practically every stop. It’s a joke and this town is too.
September 2nd, 2010 12:11 pm
ER
#2 in the state? Well, okay, in the case of how many collisions but otherwise, no, most of them don’t drive very well.
September 2nd, 2010 12:13 pm
bzzauch
LOL, what a joke.
September 2nd, 2010 12:19 pm
Earl Gardner
Yea, right. Santa Rosa and Sonoma County drivers are some of the worst that I know. Tailgating, testosterone inflated, SUV, 4-wheel, overconfident, rude. What can I say. Sorry, but this IS a joke. If Santa Rosa is second best, I would hate to go anywhere else.
September 2nd, 2010 12:29 pm
Earl Gardner
And who is in charge of programming the traffic lights in Santa Rosa? It’s also the worst. Always turning red when there’s no cross traffic. Always a long wait when there’s no traffic. What’s up with that? It takes me 20 minutes to get from Farmers Lane to 101 at six in the morning. Joke, joke, joke.
September 2nd, 2010 12:32 pm
anonymous #2
I seriously thought this was a joke. Sonoma County has THE WORST drivers I have ever seen, and I have done my fair share of travel in the U.S. No one understands what a turn signal is for in this town, let alone how to change lanes correctly without causing a pile up…Allstate is confused or doesn’t have very many insured vehicles in this town.
September 2nd, 2010 12:33 pm
45 year native
This must be a joke. I can’t wait to retire and move from this area and one of the biggest reasons is due to the selfish, inconsiderate drivers who either never took lessons at all or are under the impression that they’re the only drivers out there. Maybe few claims being files because so few drivers are licensed and insured anymore
September 2nd, 2010 12:39 pm
thedudeinsr
Laughable! I challenge anyone to be able to drive above 30mph on any street at anytime during the day in SR. It WONT happen. Waay too many cars on clogged streets and perhaps worst of all, soo many people that habitually drive well UNDER the speed limit. Its not going to kill you to drive 35 when thats the speed limit!!! Lets pay more attention! I guess this wont really make any difference but it feels good to vent. But yeah, no way are the drivers here 2nd best!
September 2nd, 2010 12:50 pm
Patrick
Soooo, this means our insurance rates are going down, right? Right? Yeah, sure.
September 2nd, 2010 12:55 pm
WineCountryGirl
This is too funny! The first thing you learn when you move to Santa Rosa is to wait an extra 10 seconds before entering an intersection when your light turns green unless you want to be wiped out by the additional 5 cars going through the intersection after their light has turned red.
And turn signals? For some reason Santa Roseans think that you turn on your signal as you are MAKING your turn, rather than in advance in order to let the people around you know BEFORE HAND that you plan on making a turn!
September 2nd, 2010 12:57 pm
Dar
I couldn’t agree more with most of these comments. They may have the fewest accidents, but that DOES NOT indicate “good drivers”. TURN SIGNALS before you are in the process of making the turn please!!!
September 2nd, 2010 1:15 pm
Steele
If you add back all the unreported, uninsured accidents we would be very low on the list. Every time the cops have a check point they catch primarily unlicensed (which means uninsured) drivers.
Ever been hit by an uninsured unlicensed driver? Yeah it cost me over 1,000 in deductibles and other not covered costs.
The driver did tell me he was sorry, I think it was I’m sorry, it was hard to understand him.
September 2nd, 2010 1:17 pm
Jdawg
Too bad this doesn’t include statistics for near accidents, because SR would be #1 in the country. Sonoma county drivers are the most negligent drivers I have enountered anywhere in the US, and I have driven in NYC area, Boston, Orlando, Seattle, LA, Denver, San Diego, Portland, etc.
Most SR drivers think their turn signal is to let you where they went, if they care to let you know at all, and drive either 80 in the fast lane or 50 in the slow lane. Not a day goes by where I don’t witness some sort of gross vehicular misconduct on Sonoma county roadways.
September 2nd, 2010 1:20 pm
Judy
Are they kidding? I almost been hit serveral times at Fulton and Airport Blvd, because people don’t know when it is their turn to go!!! They push the envelope there, and half the people in Sonoma county don’t know what a turning signal is or how to use them, LISTEN EVERYBODY OUT THERE, every car has a left and right turn signal, learn to use them and not be so inconsiderate. Look there are good drivers too, HATS off to all of you! Maybe the SUV’s could learn not to think they are the only ones all the road..Remember the laws and rules of driving apply to everyone..
September 2nd, 2010 1:26 pm
Shelley Wagner
I agree that I have been rear ended more times in Sonoma County, specifically Santa Rosa area then any where else I have lived.
I commuted on the freeways of North Bay to the East Bay, lived in LA and commuted in some of the heaviest traffic on the planet in my opinion. Only was road rage attacked in Hawthorne S.Ca.
I lived inn Metro Atlanta where in my opinion and personal driving experience the worst drivers live. They don’t drive reasonable speeds on freeways, rather in a 45 construction zone on the I 85 the average speed is 95 miles an hour.
The most frightening and most deadly is the Somoma County idiots who in a driving pouring rain storm at 10:30 at night I in my 84 suburban, not four wheel drive, just standard was retuning home to Santa Rosa from Cub Scours in Petaluma, coming up the Cotati grad I reached the top and a set of head lights which were so close to my back end they weren’t visitable until he changed lanes to pass me since I slowed for much heavier rain. Scared me to death and made me realize I have been rear ended over the years in this county not less the seven times.
I don’t have a death wish and thankfully not one of my children had ever been in one of the common tailgating bumper slams that I see occurring regularly in this county.
I would rather take my time and I know that I will get to where I need to go alive.
LA had a fix for their rush hour tailgaters. On the 605 in the airport area, when you get on to the freeway, you will encounter Chp’s with this rolling thing that measures distance and they walk along the left lane divider, if you are too close you will be handed a ticket further up the road by a ticketing officer. LOL
I learned to never not expect the unexpected.
So I applaud the vigilance recently to remove all the unlicensed driver and the drunks and the habitual drunks off our roads. It is a start.
September 2nd, 2010 1:44 pm
sam
wow, these commentors are angry. i would guess that these are the bad, mad drivers out there screaming and honking and rushing around.
i just moved here from Sacto & i find it much better here. Some people going a little slower than I would like but most people seem pretty aware of what’s going on and most do not seem to be in a dire hurry.
In Sac I was felt in constant danger walking or driving because of all the people driving out of habit without paying attention.
September 2nd, 2010 2:05 pm
lunatunz
The headline and title of the study are misleading. The data shows that Santa Rosa is #2 in the least amount of traffic accidents, nothing more or less. In this context “good” does certainly not mean courteous or legal, just lucky not to have had any accidents.
September 2nd, 2010 2:08 pm
CK
I’m going to have to agree with the majority of these comments. Santa Rosa drivers are the worst. Flat out. I was going to go into detail but realized I would end up with an essay by the time I was finished.
Here is my condensed version:
Turn signals. Leisurely driving as if they’re the only ones on the road. Clueless to the concept of a passing lane (regardless of whether or not you’re going to the speed limit – if someone wants to go by, LET THEM). Slow to make a decision, and then even slower to commit to said decision. Distracted by anything that isn’t a road. Greedy (e.g. driving around a line of traffic – sometimes offroad – and then forcing themselves into the front of the line).
I could go on…
September 2nd, 2010 2:32 pm
Waffle
Its hard to believe, my 2 cars have been hit a total of 4 times and one of them hit by a no license drunk drive, car was a total, my daughter was driving with a friend, it was bad. The other times in parking lots. All this in a 4 year time. Its also hard to believe because of all the red light runners in this town
September 2nd, 2010 2:33 pm
Anonymous
Towards Earl Gardner’s comment.
Nobody controls the stop lights. The way how to trigger the stop lights are by 2 ways.
1. Weight. They have things basically like scales that when a certain amount of weight is on top of it, it signals to the light that there is a car there, therefore changing the light.
2. Time. Traffic lights are also based off of time. Every once in a while, the city will do tests to see how the traffic is at the lights. Is there uneccessary waiting like what you claim to have on Farmers Lane or should there be more time? (In your case, you should probably contact the city and request for them to take a look at the lights or to change the style of the light.
Now, there are tricks to trigger a red light to turn green, but this does not work for every light. Some lights have a sensor over the light that triggers a red light to turn green when a bright enough light or a high-pitch enough sound is made. This is built for police cars, fire engines, and ambulances so their light bars will trigger it, or the squeeling noise that they make when going through an intersection will trigger it. You can simply trigger the sensor by while you are at the stop light, turn on your high beams. This will work if it’s dark enough and if it has a sensor. An example of this intersection would be Chanate Rd. & North St. In between Safeway on Mendocino Ave. and Sutter Hospital on Chanate Rd.
I hope this helped.
Now as far as Santa Rosa being #2 in safest city to drive in, I’m very suprised. There are way too many idiots out there on the road who shouldn’t be allowed to drive, and if we are 2nd in the state in the least amount of car accidents, then that’s very suprising.
September 2nd, 2010 2:48 pm
SchManiel
I have lived in NorCal for 20 years now, 10 in Santa Rosa. I have been rear-ended, hit by a red light runner on her cell phone and had to dodge lane changers not using their blinker so many times, I’ve lost count. Growing up in Texas, lived in Delaware, even lived in LA for 18 months and still I would have to agree with the commentators here. This is what happens when we have 7% of the population here illegally without any license or ability to drive! Allstate is reporting only for their insured drivers, not the whole state or country. Useless report.
September 2nd, 2010 3:36 pm
SN
REALLY? Don’t beleive a word of this article. I have driven all over this state and never seen worse drivers. Also is this just based on Allstate’s own customers. It appears no one living or traving through Santa Rosa believes these findings. What a waste of time this article is.
September 2nd, 2010 4:02 pm
WineCountryGirl
I would like to say to Sam that you’re making an erroneous assumption by declaring that the commentators “are the bad, mad drivers out there screaming and honking and rushing around.” I would think that the opposite is true, that the people who have taken the time to express their opinions are normal drivers who welcome the opportunity to express their irritation at the everyday occurance of self-centered, selfish drivers who monopolise the roads.
It’s our lives which are endangered when these people choose to drive too fast, pass unsafely, tailgate, talk and text while driving, eat (like the woman who tailgated me this morning!), run red lights, and fail to signal, causing sudden stops by the people behind them. So, yes, we are angry, but that doesn’t translate into road rage or crazy drivers. It just means we are tired of having to worry about losing our lives to someone who wants to get to work or home 2 minutes earlier.
September 2nd, 2010 4:08 pm
Benita Barri-Lamb
Are you kidding me!!!!
I think someone got those stats upside down. Santa Rosa drivers are some of the worst drivers I have ever encountered. Red light runners, tailgaters, cell phoe talkers and flat out rudness is all I ever see. I have seen better drivers in San Francisco than Santa Rosa. Someone must have been wine tasting before setting out to evaluate SR drivers!! Get Real!
September 2nd, 2010 4:30 pm
Akashe
The traffic and drivers not to mention the roads or the on ramps for the freeway are the worst I have ever experienced in 37 years of driving. I have since moved! But dread having to drive to visit SR. SF is EASY compared. I can tell when I’ve reached the area…it’s astounding how clueless the majority of drivers are. Anyone want to mention how to get on a freeway and explain what merge and yield means. If they hit a sprinkling of rain they hit the brakes! Scary.
September 2nd, 2010 4:30 pm
jerseydriver
The drivers here are worse than the much-maligned drivers in the New York area. If you are not driving 75-80 on the freeway, especially in the 55 mph construction zones, they’ll run you off the road.
The colors on the stop lights stand for “me first” “hooray for me” and “get out of my way.” The survey is a joke.
September 2nd, 2010 4:39 pm
Sonoma Coma
There’s a reason why Sonoma county driver’s have the reputation of being in a “Sonoma Coma” when on the road. As many other drivers who have posted their comments, I also have lived all over the country and have driven in NY, NJ, CT, MA, PA, FL… even Des Moines, Iowa. Sonoma county drivers simply do NOT pay attention to what’s around them. They are on the phone distracted, driving well UNDER the speed limit. Use of turn signals are completely non-existent. And Petaluma… oh god forbid someone realizes that when your driving up those foothills, you can actually MAINTAIN your speed by pressing on the gas pedal just a wee bit more.
Let’s add that folks will drive in the right, middle, and left lanes on the freeway all at around the same speed, so if you’re in the middle lane, it’s almost impossible to make your exit because everyone is in a freaking COMA and do not realize.. oh duh… the driver next to me may need to move over.
I am SO glad and SO thankful that I have finally moved out of Sonoma county and no longer have to deal with these idiots.
September 2nd, 2010 4:50 pm
Ron
Joke it is,…Allstate is getting Northern California’s finest in return for a favorable ranking…
September 2nd, 2010 4:51 pm
Pat B
I learned to drive in the snow on the east coast and lived in SF, East Bay etc. and the only places I have been run into is in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County. My son is getting early lessons on bad drivers since every day we witness some real bone head moves on these roads. Unfortunalty he also hears some of my responses. Sorry cant help it sometimes!!!!!!!!!!!!
PatB
September 4th, 2010 8:58 am