We’re Number One!

May 24, 2006


Just so I don’t go crazy, I want to make some sense out of the new claim that Sioux Falls is the safest driving city in the nation.

It’s true:

Study: Sioux Falls is safest driving city
By DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press Writer
Wed May 24, 4:34 AM ET

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Motorists in Sioux Falls — where the streets are laid out sensibly and the traffic enforcement is strong — are the nation’s safest and Midwest cities account for half of those in the top 10, an insurance study shows.

Researchers with Allstate Insurance Co. found that each motorist in this growing city in southeast South Dakota has on average one accident every 14.3 years — 30 percent better than the national rate of one every 10 years.

That’s fine – the reasoning is sound and I’m proud to know that I’ve helped this number by having zero accidents in 27.5 years. But here’s what’s getting me confused.

Growing up, I was always told the opposite. I was told that Sioux Falls had the worst drivers in the nation. And I always believed this claim: every time I was nearly hit on my bike, or in a car, or while crossing the street, or while mowing the lawn… you get the idea.

Seriously – I see more stupid drivers per capita in Sioux Falls than anywhere else I’ve ever been. But I couldn’t manage to find anything to this effect. So was I making this up my whole life? Did I mishear a report and since then I’ve lived with this misconception in my head?

If anyone has information, or a study, or an old copy of some magazine that can back up this old claim, please email me or post a reply. This is bugging me a lot – I KNOW we were the worst… and now we are the best.

Hooray, I guess?

Tags: Random, Sioux Falls |

Comments

6 Responses to “We’re Number One!”

  1. Steph on May 24th, 2006 958 pm

    Corey,
    You think SF has bad drivers? You have been to Sioux City, IA haven’t you? Also personally, it sounds as if you have had more pedistrian-vehicle encounters than most folk-Steph

  2. eric on May 25th, 2006 749 am

    ya wanna know what’s really really really weird about this? last week they said the exact same thing about minneapolis! now i tried to find it on the internet and…gone! i think it’s a scam to get people to think their cities are cool. either that or we only got to bee cool for a week, then sioux falls took the crown away.
    ?

  3. Ryan on May 25th, 2006 620 pm

    If SF is #1 in anything driving related it would have to be close calls. I see people almost get into an accident atleast once a day, which says alot considering I don’t go out a whole lot.
    I agree with the almost getting hit on your bike thing. I have been riding to work for the past month and I totally forgot how awful it is. If I wasn’t as careful as I am I would get hit every other day if not everyday.
    safest drivers? I think not. Least accidents, maybe.

  4. Kerrie on May 26th, 2006 750 am

    I’d agree with Ryan.

    And it might not even be close calls, but no calls. I was rear-ended yesterday, but we didn’t call, cuz there didn’t seem to be any damage. Though I don’t know if it would’ve been the same story if I wasn’t driving the Volkswagen.

    Furthermore, if I have fewer than two close calls on my way biking home from work, I call the commute a success. People get crabby for bikes on sidewalks, but sometimes it’s a death sentence to ride in the road.

  5. Rhonda on June 25th, 2006 1145 am

    SIOUX FALLS IS A CITY THAT IS FULL OF DIRTY ROTTEN LIARS! I LIVED THERE MOST OF MY LIFE AND I AM SO HAPPY TO BE GONE!! THE MAYOR, POLICE OFFICERS ALL OF THE JUDGES AND ANY TYPE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICALS ARE ALL CROOKED! THEY (DO NOT)FOLLOW THE LAW, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN LAW THAT THEY FOLLOW AND ITS REALLY SAD!! WHEN YOU TELL THEM THAT YOU WILL CONTACT THE ACLU ON THEM AND THEY START TO CRY YOU WILL KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!
    ALL I CAN SAY IS IT WAS A SCAM!!! GET OUT OF THAT FUCKING *MAYBERRY* AND CHECK OUT THE REAL WORLD! YOU WILL BE HAPPIER THAT YOU DID :) ITS A RING FULL OF DIRTY SIOUX FALLS MAFIA, AND I HAVE MANY NAMES THAT WILL GO DOWN VERY FAST IF I WANT THEM TOO! SIOUX FALLS CAN CONTINUE TO BURN IN THIER OWN HELL~

  6. Corey Vilhauer on June 25th, 2006 1249 pm

    Um. As a citizen of Sioux Falls, I take offense for you wanting me to burn in my own hell.

    Caps lock rules, though.

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