According to a USA Today poll, three out of four of Americans plan to vacation at least 100 miles from home this year, and many of those trips will undoubtedly involve a good old-fashioned road trip. Now, Erie Insurance has ranked 10 popular vacation destinations in terms of crash risk.
Erie analyzed five years of crash data provided by the Highway Loss Data Institute to determine the average daily collision claim rate per 100,000 people. Of the 10 metro areas Erie analyzed, Washington, D.C., had the highest rate, while Las Vegas had the lowest.
Below is each city's ranking, average daily collision claim rate, and how that city's risk compared to the other cities in Erie's analysis.
Rank Destination Average Daily Collision Rate Compared to 10-City
Claim Rate Average
1 Washington, D.C. 7.77 per 100,000 +46 percent
2 Virginia Beach 6.76 per 100,000 +27 percent
3 Philadelphia 6.17 per 100,000 +16 percent
4 Chicago 5.33 per 100,000 (Average)
5 San Antonio 5.07 per 100,000 -5 percent
6 Orlando 4.62 per 100,000 -13 percent
7 Seattle 4.59 per 100,000 -14 percent
8 Nashville 4.39 per 100,000 -17 percent
9 New York 4.37 per 100,000 -18 percent
10 Las Vegas 4.05 per 100,000 -24 percent
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].