To coincide with the release of its annual Americas Best Drivers report, the Allstate Insurance company provided free gas to Alexandria motorists Wednesday, in recognition of the city taking top honors as Most Improved Driving City.

According to the report, which ranks the nations 200 largest cities in terms of collision frequency, the average driver in Alexandria will experience an auto collision every 7.2 years, an improvement of 1.8 years since 2005. Allstate congratulated city motorists for their safe driving improvements by giving away free gas for three hours Wednesday morning at a Shell station on Duke Street.

Beginning at 6 a.m., hundreds of motorists lined up for the free gas limited to 10 gallons per customer with an average wait time of between 35 and 45 minutes. A total of 380 vehicles were able to fill up courtesy of Allstate. At the normal rate of $2.65 per gallon of regular gasoline, the value to city motorists was $10,070.

Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille was on hand to help pump gas and congratulate drivers on their achievement.

We are very pleased that Alexandria has been recognized as Americas Most Improved Driving City, Euille said. This important recognition demonstrates that our residents are committed to safe, attentive driving practices on our roads. We will continue to encourage Alexandria drivers to be safe and smart behind the wheel, hopefully ensuring that accidents rates will remain low.

Auto crashes in general have declined over the last few years, but crash fatalities still average around an alarming 40,000 every year despite technological advances, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Alexandria topped the most improved chart, increasing its years between accidents by 1.8 years and climbing from the 194 spot in 2005 to 174 in 2009.

Virginia drivers in general fared well, with five out of the top 10 most improved driving cities coming from the Commonwealth: Alexandria, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Richmond.