GTA has highest collision rate in Ontario: Allstate study

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has the highest collision rate in Ontario, while drivers in the province’s northern region have the fewest collisions, according to a new study from Allstate Canada.

As part of its annual Ontario Safe Driving Study, the insurer looked at its customer claims data over a two-year period from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2012, and ranked 46 communities in Ontario by the frequency of collisions per 100 cars insured by Allstate.

See the rankings here: Ontario Safe Driving Study 

Brockville, Ont., in the eastern part of the province, had the lowest collision rate at 3.06%, while the GTA including Toronto, had a rate of 5.63%. Toronto itself had a rate of 6.12%.

Welland, Chatham, Amherstburg and Sarnia rounded out the top five lowest rates, all under 3.62%. Brampton had the highest collision rate at 6.45%.

Brockville also had the second largest improvement, a 21.01% decrease, to its collision frequency between the 2008–2010 and 2010–2012 periods. Chatham was the third most improved community with a 16.67% decrease.

Regionally, northern Ontario had the lowest overall collision rate at 3.87%, followed by 4.6% for Southwestern Ontario.

Overall, the province’s car collision frequency rate dropped by 3.3% between the two time periods, according to Allstate. “We’re pleased to see fewer collisions in the province,” Allstate Canada spokesperson Saskia Matheson noted.

“Whether this is because of an increased awareness of the dangers of handheld devices starting to take effect, drivers reducing their speed, increased police activity or other influences we don’t yet know, we hope to see this trend continues.”

Matheson also noted that many collisions in Allstate’s claims data were caused by speed and occurred when the roads were clear, not just during winter months.

The insurer has also looked at data from five major cities in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa) as part of its 2012 Urban Safe Driving Challenge.

Toronto had the second highest collision rate out of the five most populated cities in the country, behind Montreal’s 8.54% collision rate. Calgary had the lowest rate at 5.63%.