Baltimore Drivers Ranked As Some Of The Worst In U.S.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Buckle your seat belts, Baltimore! A new study has ranked drivers in our city as some of the worst in the country.

Meghan McCorkell has more on the study.

That study, done by insurance company Allstate, looked at the number of collisions compared to other cities.

Emergency lights, multiple crushed cars and an SUV on its side are pretty common sights on the streets of Baltimore.

"Lackadaisical turn signaling and running through reds. I see a little bit of everything," said driver Teddy Schreck.

In its annual study, Allstate Insurance has ranked Baltimore one of the least safe cities for driving.

"Cab drivers are the worst. To be honest, cab drivers are really bad," said Alex Kavoura.

"Every time I've been in a taxi--this is my third time in Baltimore--I've feared for my life," said tourist Karen Kaplan.

According to the study, Baltimore drivers get in a crash every 5.4 years. The national average is every 10 years.

"They're basically measuring the volume of claims that we receive or the volume of accidents involving collisions," said Allstate agent Jim Craig.

The insurance giant says one of the biggest problems they see are distracted drivers on their cell phones.

"You cannot text and drive. It's just extremely dangerous," Craig said.

WJZ caught two drivers talking and texting on East Fayette Street within just a few minutes. Other drivers say they've seen everything.

"Texting, putting on makeup, reading the newspaper," said one.

But it's not all bad news for Baltimore.

"I hate driving in D.C. That was the worst to me," said another driver.

There's good reason for that. The nation's capital is the only city with a worse ranking than Charm City.

Fort Collins in Colorado topped the list for the city with the best drivers.

Baltimore also ranked second to last in the 2012 best driver study.