Jacksonville ranks top 10 riskiest U.S. cities for driving in latest study

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — According to a new study by U.S. News & World Report of the 50 largest U.S. cities which are the safest and riskiest for drivers, Jacksonville ranked number seven as least safe.

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The five cities with the highest fatality rates are: Louisville, Kentucky (No. 2), Oklahoma City (No. 3), Tulsa, Oklahoma (No. 4), and Jacksonville (No. 5).

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The study analyzed data including fatal auto accidents per capita in each city from 2016 to 2020. It also looked at the average fatality rate per miles traveled in each state, the number of DUI arrests per capita in each state and the rate of auto thefts.

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Memphis, Tennessee toped the list as the most dangerous for drivers. It ranked No. 1 in fatal car accidents per capita and No. 1 for people involved in fatal crashes per capita.

The study also found that despite lighter traffic attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, reported traffic fatalities actually increased by about 19 percent.

Other Key findings

• Boston ranked as the safest city for drivers.
• Larger U.S. cities such as San Francisco (No. 42), Seattle (No. 43), Chicago (No. 45) and New York (No. 49) ranked near the bottom of the list of riskiest cities for drivers.
• Honolulu (No. 48) also stands out as it was rated No. 50 in people involved in fatal crashes per capita, and was ranked No. 49 in fatal accidents.
• Albuquerque, New Mexico topped the study’s list with the highest fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled. It also ranked No. 2 as the riskiest U.S. cities overall for drivers.
• Colorado cities lead the list with the nation’s most DUI arrests. Both Colorado Springs and Denver top the nation in driving under the influence arrests per capita at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively.

According to U.S. News & World Report on how the rankings were calculated:

U.S. News & World Report ranked the nation’s 50 most populated cities on several factors that determine how risky or safe a city is for drivers. The overall rankings ordered cities from No. 1 (riskiest) to No. 50 (safest).

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Each factor was ranked by indexing the values. The top-ranked value received a value of 100; the lowest-ranked value received a value of zero; and the rest fell in between. An index was then multiplied according to how that factor was weighed, with all factor weights adding up to 100%.