Hardly a week goes by without a couple of Road Warrior readers writing in to complain that Sonoma County drivers are among the worst they’ve ever encountered. But an Allstate Insurance Co. study shows that we’re not that bad.

In its seventh annual America’s Best Drivers Report issued last fall, Allstate found that Santa Rosa drivers ranked 72nd among 200 large cities studied compared to 61st in 2010. (The next update is due this fall.)

The report said Santa Rosa drivers had an average of 9.7 years between accidents and their relative likelihood for an accident was 3.1 percent more than the national average.

The best drivers were in Fort Collins, Colo., for the second year in a row. Drivers there had an average of 14 years between accidents and their relative chances for one was 28.6 percent less than the national average.

Among the 43 California cities listed in the report, Santa Rosa ranked fifth. The top California city was Salinas, which ranked 33rd nationally. Then second was Lancaster (54th), third Fresno (65th) and fourth San Bernardino (67th).

The top 10 safe-driving cities nationally were:

1. Fort Collins

2. Boise, Idaho

3. Lincoln, Neb.

4. Chandler, Ariz.

5. Huntsville, Ala.

6. Knoxville, Tenn.

7. Springfield, Mo.

8. Reno

9. Eugene, Ore.

10. Chattanooga, Tenn.

For cities with more than 1 million residents, these were the top:

1. Phoenix (55th nationally)

2. San Diego, (117th)

3. San Antonio, Texas (142nd)

4. Houston (155th)

5. Chicago (157th)

6. Dallas (167th)

7. New York (171st)

8. Los Angeles (182nd)

9. Philadelphia (188th)

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