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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Richmond's finance department has been plagued by a lack of accountability, outdated technology, cultural issues and "a long history of deficient work practices," per a newly released independent review.

Why it matters: Any local who pays car or real estate taxes, or owns a business in the city, has likely interacted with Richmond's finance department.

State of play: The report is from consultant Anne Seward, who the city hired last year to review the department. It sheds light on big issues behind the scenes, including:

• A "lack of service commitment" from staffers, who also routinely exhibited "insubordination, sabotage and undermining" of leadership
• Standard operating procedures that either didn't exist or weren't followed
• Long-running reliance on manual and paper-based systems, which resulted in errors, poor record-keeping and overall slow work
• Dozens of instances of billing issues and errors, incorrect tax balances, and payments wrongly applied or not applied at all

What's next: The city listed the open finance director position earlier this month. The posted salary: $159,123-$265,731.

Keep reading for how much the consultant cost

✈️ Frontier Airlines is expanding its service to Richmond in October with twice-a-week flights to Atlanta and Denver. (WTVR)

• Buying a flight this month for any date before Dec. 18 could get you fares as low as $29 for Atlanta and $59 for Denver.

👀 RRHA, Richmond's public housing authority, hired a local firm to pay Gilpin Court residents $20 to attend a City Council meeting and say they support the controversial plan to privatize Gilpin. (Times-Dispatch)

A judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the mother and wife of the 2023 Monroe Park graduation shooting victims, Shawn Jackson and Renzo Smith, against the Richmond School Board, saying school officials didn't "create the danger" that caused their deaths. (WRIC)

• The court also dismissed claims against Superintendent Kamras and staff at Huguenot high, where Jackson graduated before being killed.

💰 Biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is planning a massive, multi-billion-dollar facility in an undisclosed Virginia location that will be its single-largest manufacturing investment ever. (Reuters)

Two exhibitions — "Ruined" and "Refined" — open at the Branch Museum of Design this week.

Why it matters: One of them includes the custom, Richmond-made motorcycle used by Daryl Dixon in AMC's zombie apocalypse hit "The Walking Dead."

The big picture: To help curate the showcase, Branch worked with John Ryland, a former ad man and owner of Classified Moto, the custom motorcycle and scooter shop in Manchester.

• "Ruined" features "The Walking Dead" bike and focuses on reinvention and creativity in motorcycle design.
• "Refined" explores the design evolution of Vespas (those sexy Italian scooters), with some rare ones on display.

If you go: Both exhibitions roll into the Fan District museum tomorrow with a free reception (6-8pm), which includes an open bar, snacks and photo ops on "Daryl's bike."

• The shows are open Tuesday-Sunday thereafter for $10.

Fun fact: You can check out the process of creating the Richmond-made "Walking Dead" bike here.

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Baltik's Bagel in South Richmond is upping the Hot Tomato Summer ante this year with its entry: the Pomo‑D'ORO.

Why it matters: The bagel sandwich features Hanover tomatoes, vodka cream cheese, fresh basil, speck, Duke's Mayo pesto blend and a drizzle of 25‑year‑old balsamic from Emilia‑Romagna in Northern Italy.

• Plus, it's served between the bagel shop's specially made tomato bagel, which they've dubbed the TomAGEL.

Karri's thought bubble: I tried the Pomo‑D'ORO this week and it tastes like summer in food-form — or like Richmond's classic tomato and mayo sandwich, just upgraded and with zing.

• It's that aged balsamic that takes it over the edge.
• Chef and owner Yero Rudzinskas told me the bagel sandwich has been flying out the door since the promo started.

You can try one at Baltik's through Saturday for $9.95, or $3.95 if you just want the TomAGEL.

• Hot Tomato Summer runs through Sunday.

Go deeper for more on Duke's Mayo's Hot Tomato Summer and how it started here