Let's be careful out there

   From the Business Today section of today's Buffalo News:

- Allstate study ranks Buffalo as less safe for accidents
   Drivers in Buffalo are more likely to experience an accident than in other cities of upstate New York or other parts of the country on average, though not as much so as in New York City or Yonkers, according to a new study by insurer Allstate Corp.
   The company's press release is here. The list of stats [opens a pdf] is here.
   Reporters and headline writers around the country had some fun with this story. I couldn't find more than a Web blurb in the Washington or Baltimore papers, even though those cities ranked the worst. But Philly writers weren't shy:
- The Philadelphia Daily News: We're No. 1, yo.
   Unfortunately, not just in baseball. Philadelphia is also home to the worst drivers among the country's top 10 cities, according to the 2009 "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report."
   And we ranked 6th overall among 200 U.S. cities, if you're apt to call Sioux Falls, S.D., a "city."
- The Philadelphia Inquirer: Everyone who buys auto insurance in Philadelphia knows it. So does everybody frightened by the Schuylkill Expressway's merge-or-die ramps, Lincoln Drive's snakelike twists, or Roosevelt Boulevard's multilane madness. Philadelphia is a risky place to drive. 
- The Las Vegas Sun: If you’ve ever thought Las Vegas drivers are worse than their counterparts in many other parts of the country, you were right.
- Los Angeles Times: Surprise: Los Angeles does not rank as safest in driving report.
- The Colorado Springs Gazette: Springs drivers ranked among nation's safest. Really.
- A little sibling rivalry from The Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star: Lincoln moves up, tops Omaha in best drivers study.  
- And, from the city that finished first, with no snark at the losers, even in Philly, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.

Also:
- Harlequin to spend $6 million to upgrade plant equipment
   Harlequin Sales Corp. plans to spend $6 million to upgrade equipment at its Depew distribution center, with an eye toward reducing its work force.
   The Erie County Industrial Development Agency’s board on Monday approved $525,000 in sales tax exemptions tied to the improvements planned by the publisher of romance and women’s fiction novels.
   Harlequin Romances and tax breaks. There's a joke here someplace.

-- George Pyle/The Buffalo News 

Comments

[Ken]

Since we pay above average rates for insurance in WNY, should we not be intitled to more accidents?

If we drop our accident rate, will our insurance rates drop?
Probably just as much as our gas prices dropped after we drastically cut down on our consumption.

Any excuse to raise their rates for more profit is always going to be tossed at us. Especially in New York State, home of the highest rates in everything for the worst in everything.

[GW Plunkett]

So Harlequin gets a tax break to upgrade equipment that will result in a workforce reduction?

Ahh such wonderful use of our tax dollars.

Insane!