Cary Safest City To Be A Driver
Cary, NC – Cary is known for its scenic greenways and trails for runners, bikers and walkers but the town has more than its fair share of drivers too. And in a recent study, it turns out that Cary is the safest city for drivers in the entire country.
Cary #1 In Driver Safety
In a report by NerdWallet, Cary ranked in the top when it came to driver safety in a study of the top 200 most populous cities in the United States. Christopher Rein, associate with NerdWallet, said this comes down to a variety of factors.
“Cary has the lowest rate of fatal accidents,” Rein said, with 1.3 fatal car accidents per 100,000 people in 2014 according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“That’s the lowest out of any city that made our 200 list,” Rein said.
And while other cities on the list had a lower chance of getting into any sort of car accident than Cary, drivers in Cary are still 13.8 percent less likely to be involved in accident than the average town or city, according to data from AllState.
“Cary also has the lowest risk of motor vehicle theft and ranked safe in auto larceny risk,” Rein said.
Collectively, these all gave Cary a score of 84.2 out of 100 on NerdWallet’s scale, 7.4 points above the next-safest city: Boise, Idaho.
One thing Cary had in common with many other cities and towns in the upper tiers of driver safety – size.
“The average population of our 20 safest cities is 208,944, compared with an average population of 488,710 for the 20 most dangerous cities,” said Elizabeth Renter, the author of the study.
With a population of 152,800 as of April 2015, Cary fits into that smaller camp. However, size did not always correlate with danger. New York City ranked 34 in terms of safety, better than Raleigh or Durham.
Saving Money Down the Road
Not only was Cary safest for drivers’ cars and bodies, it proved to be one of the safest for their pockets as well. Looking across different age groups and marital statuses, the average car insurance payment in Cary is $729 according to NerdWallet’s study. By comparison, the average insurance payment in the next-safest city, Boise, is $816.
“Car owners in Cary pay $992.57 less per year on average than drivers in the 20 most dangerous cities,” Rein said.
Average insurance payment was not a factor in deciding a city or town’s place in the rankings of safest or most dangerous for drivers.
And while Cary ranked as the safest city in the country, Rein said the ranking found that many of the top 20 most dangerous cities for drivers were in the South, including Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Baltimore, Atlanta and Dallas in the top 10.
“That’s not something we expected to see,” he said.
Out of the 200 cities in the study, Raleigh came in at 61th, with Durham and Winston-Salem following behind at 66th and 79th respectively.
Hitting the Road on Memorial Day
Driver safety is a topical issue over the Memorial Day weekend. Whether you’re tooling around Cary or taking a road trip, pay attention to the road and travel safely this holiday weekend.
Story by Michael Papich. Photos by Hal Goodtree.
