Phoenix has the safest driving environment. The area with the highest traffic accident rate in the United States has been released.

Phoenix has the safest driving environment. The area with the highest traffic accident rate has been released. If you have had enough of drivers who rush and swerve, these guys are...

This ranking ranks the safest drivers in the 200 most populous areas in the United States. Fort Collins, Colorado (Fort Collins) Collins is a relatively safe city, ranking first on Allstate's list. Local drivers are 28.2% less likely to be involved in a traffic accident than the average American driver, with an average of only one accident every 13.9 years. By contrast, the areas where drivers crashed most frequently include several of the nation's most densely populated metropolitan areas, with Washington, D.C. again ranking first for dangerous driving. The probability of a traffic accident for residents of Washington, the capital of the United States, is 109.3% higher than the national average, with a traffic accident occurring every 4.8 years.

In the slideshow below, we present the ten U.S. cities with the worst driving standards, based on research from Allstate. While the top dangerous cities include major metropolitan areas such as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami and San Francisco, it's surprising that some of the nation's largest cities rank lower on the dangerous driving list. Los Angeles, known for its car congestion, only ranked 14th on the list, while New York and Chicago, which have efficient public transportation networks, ranked 23rd and 45th respectively.

In addition to Fort Collins, other top ten cities on the best driver list include: Boise, Idaho, Sioux Falls, North Dakota Falls, Texas; Madison, Wisconsin; Reno, Nevada; Huntsville, Alabama; Visalia, California; Montgomery, Alabama; and Eugene, Oregon. The most densely populated of these cities is the college town of Madison, Wisconsin, which has 240,323 residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates based on 2012 data, ranking it 82nd on the list of the largest cities in the United States.

Among the largest cities in the United States, Phoenix, Arizona, a city with more than one million residents, has the safest driving environment. The probability of local drivers getting into traffic accidents is only 2.0% higher than the national average. Typically, Phoenix residents are involved in an accident only once every 9.8 years. Other major metropolitan areas that are safer include San Diego, San Antonio, Chicago and Houston.

Obviously, driving with caution in metropolitan areas may be more risky than driving in sparsely populated areas, but everyone should rise to their own challenges, especially drivers who are unfamiliar with the area. To achieve this goal, auto safety experts recommend that drivers who plan to take their cars to visit big cities need to pay attention to safe driving tips that locals may think are obvious:

Allow enough time to get to your destination. Traffic congestion, lengthy traffic lights, pedestrians taking their time crossing the road, and the inevitable year-round road construction and detours will almost certainly have a serious impact on a driver's travel time. Expect an unexpected number of pedestrians, emergency vehicles, delivery trucks, parked cars, taxis and city buses along the way, forcing you to stop or slow down.

Follow changing traffic conditions. Listen to traffic reports on the radio or use your navigation system to display congestion information and find alternative driving routes to minimize delays.

Plan your driving route on a map in advance and use Global Positioning System (GPS) to find the most efficient way to your destination; if you get lost, pull over safely and ask for directions, or call authorities if you feel the situation is dangerous.

At the same time, residents of big cities should pay special attention to following the following guidelines when traveling by car to sparsely populated areas:

Pay attention to the maximum speed limit. There may be less traffic on the road and higher speed limits, but resist the urge to hit the gas too hard, especially when driving in an area you're not familiar with.

On sections of road where there are no crosswalk signs, always be on the lookout for pedestrians who may be crossing the road from the opposite side.

Keep a safe distance from vehicles in front of you, especially large trucks, which may have limited visibility; make sure there is enough space and opportunity to overtake trucks, especially on two-lane roads.