The number one killer of teenagers in America is driving accidents.

Allstate Insurance Company recently released their annual list of the nation’s deadliest hotspots for fatal crashes occurring between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day for teen drivers.

The Birmingham Metropolitan Area, and more specifically Hoover, ranked fifth in the nation. The results were based on crash statistics of fatal accidents over the course of the past eight years.

This is one top ten list that Hoover, Shelby County and the entire Birmingham Metropolitan Area would be better off not making.

Defining a metropolitan area as “a central city and its surrounding counties,” Allstate’s report stated there are double the number of crashes in rural areas than in cities and suburbs.

The average rate of fatal teen crashes nationally is 51.5 annually out of every 100,000.

Other U.S. metropolitan areas making the top ten deadliest hotspot list for teenage drivers during the specified time were: Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., Orlando and Kissimmee, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo. and Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale, Ariz.; Las Vegas and Paradise, Nev.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Louisville, Ky. and Richmond, Va.

Ranked among the safest cities for teen drivers from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day are: Salt Lake City, Utah, San Francisco, Calif., Cleveland, Ohio, Portland, Oregon, Milwaukee, Wisc., Boston, Mass., Detroit, Mich. and Los Angeles, Calif.

Local students are encouraged to take Driver’s Education Classes at their local high schools or call the University of Montevallo regarding their Traffic Safety Center, which offers a wide variety of instruction opportunities for drivers of all ages.

Beth Chapman can be contacted by e–mail at bethchapman@bellsouth.net.