North Bay is among the safest 25 communities to drive in, according to a recent national survey.
Allstate Insurance Company of Canada has released the results of its annual Safe Driving Study, and North Bay’s ranking has risen.
In 2013 North Bay placed 46th in the country.
This year the city placed 25th out of 81 communities across the country and placed best in Northern Ontario.
Tony Bossio, Northern Ontario media rep for Allstate, says North Bay’s rise in the rankings came despite a five percent rise in collision claims frequency over results from previous years.
The results of the survey are released as part of an awareness campaign, Bossio said they are not used to raise or lower insurance rates.
“We want to create awareness that a lot of these collisions are preventable. With the winter weather coming up, December and January are our busiest months for collisions,” said Bossio.
Allstate says the top four causes of collision from the survey were rear-ended, turning and intersections, lane change and parked vehicle.
According to the survey, the safest days of the year to drive— with least chance of having a collision — are January 1, July 1 and December25.
Allstate cites December 23, December 21 and November 19 as the days of the year most likely for people to have collisions.
North Bay was able to climb the ratings despite that 5-percent increase in collision claims frequency because other communities, such as Belleville — which had previously been rated 11th — showed a 36-percent increase and finished 27th.
Bossio said it was one of the largest placement jumps in this year’s survey. Sudbury, North Bay, Thunder Bay and Sault Ste. Marie all ranked within the top 30.
“We are all from Northern Ontario here and we know things may be a little bit different. Our winter weather can be more severe than in other parts of the country,” said Bossio.
He added people should give themselves more time to get where they need to go during the winter months.
