Which Canadian community has the lowest vehicle collision rate?

A community in northern Ontario ranks as the safest for drivers in Canada, with an average vehicle collision rate of 3.8%, according to data from the Allstate Insurance Company of Canada.

The 10^th Annual Allstate Canada Safe Driving Study found Hanmer had an average vehicle collision rate of 3.8% per 100 cars (percentage of vehicles insured by Allstate Canada involved in a collision that resulted in a claim) over a 10-year period spanning July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2018. This collision claims frequency was down 17% in 2018 compared to 2008.

The study of collision claims involved communities with at least 1,000 cars insured by Allstate Canada in Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario. For the latest study, a total of 64 communities were included.

In second place for safest community was Brockville, Ont., near Ottawa, with a collision frequency of 3.9%, down 5% over the ten-year period. On the opposite end of the spectrum was the Toronto-area communities of Brampton, Scarborough and North York, with a collision frequency of 7.1%, an increase of 36%, 36% and 37%, respectively, from 2008 to 2018.

After 10 years of releasing collision data information to help raise awareness of road safety issues, Allstate Canada decided to “do something a little different,” Greg Bergeron, Ottawa agency manager with Allstate Canada told Canadian Underwriter last week. It is asking Canadians to submit suggestions on what could be changed or enhanced to improve road safety in their communities or in general. Submissions for the Allstate Takes Action contest can be received until Feb. 28, 2019. The insurer also offers safe driving tips at goodhandsadvice.ca.

“What Allstate plans to do is select at least one of those ideas, hopefully more, and we’re going to try and implement that in 2019,” Bergeron said in an interview. “It speaks volumes to insurance companies: we’re not in the business of selling insurance, we’re in the business of preventing. If we can get into preventing claims and preventing accidents, everybody is going to be in a much better position.”

The Safe Driving Study was created to kickstart the conversation about safe driving behaviours and encourage discussion between drivers, pedestrian and other community members on how to work together to improve road safety. The contest helps take the conversation to the next level.

“Some communities that have higher frequencies may be looking at themselves and say, ‘Why do we have a higher collision frequency? What are we doing, is there an intersection that is a problem issue, what can we do safer?’” said Bergeron. “Those communities that really do well can boast that.”

In some cases, those with a lower collision frequency rate may have done something to improve their results. For example, in Brockville, officials have installed pedestrian intersection crosswalks in certain areas based on suggestions.

Some other highlights of the 10^th annual study:

• Friday has been the worst day for driving across the country for the entire decade, continuously recording the highest number of collisions over other days of the week
• The most frequent collisions reported over the past 10 years are vehicles being rear-ended, followed by crashes involving turning and intersections, then parked vehicle fender-benders
• December 23^rd consistently sees the most collisions; Christmas Day sees the least number of collisions reported
• The most severe auto-related incidents involve head-on collisions or those involving pedestrians or cyclists
• Spruce Grove, Alta. is the community with the greatest decrease in collision claims frequency, down 27% in 2018 from 2008
• As a province, New Brunswick has the lowest collision claims frequency in both 2008 and 2018 (4.5% and 5.1%, respectively).