Portland Has Some of the Worst Drivers in America

But we're still better than Seattle.

By Russell Hausfeld

AllState's 2016 Safest Driving City rankings are out and Portland has moved up two whole rankings since last year—all the way from 183rd place to 181st place!

This annual ranking identifies which of the largest 200 American cities have the safest drivers. The winner this year was Brownsville, Texas, followed by Kansas City, Kansas and Madison, Wisconsin.

Portland's less than impressive ranking from AllState illustrates the rise in traffic deaths in the city this year. In April, The O reported on the 13 traffic-related deaths just four months into 2016, twice the number reported in April of last year. And local organizations and lawmakers are taking action to install things like safety beacons at street crossings, so that cars will see pedestrians and pedestrians will know when it is safe to cross.

According to Portland's Traffic Safety Report, 2015 saw a total of 37 traffic-related deaths in total. Over half of these fatalities involved drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol with other fatalities attributed to speed, roadway and lane departure and low-light conditions.

Related: 11-Year-Old Crashes Stolen Car in North Portland

While Portland may not be the safest driving city in the nation, at least it's loads more exciting than Brownsville or Madison.

And we're still better at driving here than people in Seattle (#183), San Francisco (#191) or Los Angeles (#193). We're also better than Boston, who came in last.

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