Richmond has some of the riskiest drivers in America
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Richmond is one of the riskiest cities to drive in nationwide, per Allstate claims data.
Why it matters: The findings put a little quantitative weight behind some people's strongly held beliefs that Richmond drivers are awful.
The big picture: Allstate determined risk by analyzing how many years drivers from the 200 biggest U.S. cities go without a reported collision for its 2025 America's Best Drivers Report.
- The nationwide average is about 10.6 years. Richmond is at 7.5.
- That places the city at 161 out of 200.
- We've also dropped 73 spots since 2015, when Richmond was ranked No. 88.
Reality check: The data doesn't factor in collisions' severity, which means some cities may have a smaller number of road incidents overall, but more fatalities.
Zoom in: Earlier this month, the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police lauded Richmond for a 32% drop in traffic-related deaths last year.
- It's the largest decline recorded since at least 2017.
- But traffic-related deaths have yet to drop to pre-pandemic levels, per the city's dashboard.
Among the factors the association noted has helped reduce deaths:
- Richmond lowering speed limits.
- Giving more speeding tickets and adding more speed cameras.
- Building 200 speed bumps citywide, installing pedestrian beacons for when people cross multi-lane streets and creating more accessible sidewalks.
Yes, but: Richmond has still recorded over 1,100 total crashes this year, which resulted in 550 people injured and six killed, per the dashboard.
What we're watching: Whether Richmond meets its goal of eliminating all traffic deaths and severe injuries by 2030.
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