Belleville drivers getting worse, says study

By Sam Normand

Traffic was backed up on Wallbridge-Loyalist Rd. Tuesday morning following a four-vehicle accident. Belleville has dropped from first to 13th in a safe driving survey. Photo by Marc Venema.

Belleville drivers are getting worse on the roads.

Belleville ranked number 13 in a recent safe driving survey by Allstate, down from first place three years ago.

The Ontario Safe Driving Study is conducted by the insurance company every three years. It studies insurance claims statistics from over 40 communities in order to establish which community has the most accidents.

Only those that have a payout, however, are included in the survey, and only communities with over 900 cars registered with Allstate are examined.

Brockville currently holds the first place for the 2009-2011 study.

Ross McDougall, owner of McDougall insurance, says stabilizing insurance rates could contribute to the amount of claims filed, however.

“There probably is a trend for more collisions generally over the past few years as rates stabilize,” says McDougall. “If rates are skyrocketing then people are scared that if they put a claim in they’re going to skyrocket even more.”

Belleville’s increase in insurance claims rose by 29% to 4.01 collision claims per hundred cars from the 2007-2009 study. It now places between Sarnia with 4.00 cars per hundred and St. Catharines with 4.08 cars per hundred.

On a lighter night, however, the collision claims filed in the province have fallen by about 7 per cent since the previous study.

“We are pleased to see the overall decrease in Ontario’s collision rate and hope to see this trend continue,” says Tony Irwin, spokesperson for Allstate Canada. ” To help, we are reminding drivers to be attentive and patient behind the wheel. We have developed a series of safe driving tips at goodhandsadvice.ca that we encourage drivers to read and keep in mind whenever they are on the road.”

“What we’re looking at is the number of collision claims per hundred vehicles insured,” says Jason Foroglou, Allstate agency manager of the Courtice and Belleville branches. “This is just Allstate data. It may differ slightly from, say what the police have in communities.”

Foroglou says the data is recorded not from where the accident actually took place, but is instead taken from where those who were involved reside.

He makes the example that if you were a resident of Belleville and got in an accident in Toronto during a day trip, that accident would therefore count against Belleville.

“The whole point of the survey was to really focus on whether there has been an improvement in road safety,” says Foroglou. “And kind of directing customers to the best way to stay safe on the road.”