Vicksburg has been ranked as the number four city in Mississippi for fewest speeding related deaths and number eight for fewest distracted driving deaths.

ConsumerAffairs analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 2014, which is the most updated data at the moment, and created a website displaying their findings.

“I believe they are currently working on 2015 and as soon as we get that we will update our page, our map and our tool,” Kay Evans at ConsumerAffairs said.

Cities from across the country were ranked based on the numbers gathered by the organizations. The data was split into the three categories of speeding, distracted driving, driving under the influence and then total deaths.

Per 100,000 population, Vicksburg averaged 4.26 deaths because of speeding and averaged 12.79 deaths because of distracted driving.

“It’s basically saying you’re the fourth fewest city to have fatalities in regards to speed,” Evans said.

Vicksburg police Chief Walter Armstrong said he had not been made aware of this ranking, but he was pleased to get the news.

“It’s good to hear good news,” Armstrong said.

He said the positive numbers could be in part because of the radar trailer the city invested in to record driving speeds. He said the VPD sets up the trailer around town and in addition to clocking the speed of cars passing by it also downloads that information so officers know areas of high speeding.

“It lets us know if we need enforcement depending on what we see,” Armstrong said.

He also noted the safety checkpoints the VPD collaborated on with the Warren County Sheriff’s Office in December.

He said the police department has more than 50 patrol officers and a unit of four officers who work primarily in traffic enforcement. There are also five Mississippi State Troopers assigned to Warren County, he said.

There was no data on the website recorded from Vicksburg on deaths because of driving under the influence. As for total deaths, Vicksburg ranked thirteenth in the state averaging 21.31 per 100,000.

“We put this together to make people aware of the drivers in their community,” Evans said.

Nationwide the data from 2014 showed there were 6.1 million police-reported crashes. In motor vehicle crashes, 2.3 million people were injured and 32,675 died. Of those fatalities, 31 percent were alcohol related, 28 percent were because of speeding and 10 percent were because of distracted driving.

Evans said it was good for the community to be aware of these statistics so they are aware of what kind of auto insurance is best suited for them based on their local area.

“Consumers have the right to make informed decisions about how they spend their money,” Zac Carman, CEO of ConsumerAffairs, said in a press release. “Although every driver in the United States is required to purchase a certain amount of liability insurance, there are thousands of auto insurance policies and providers from which they can choose, all with varying cost and amount of coverage. This interactive tool will help consumers assess the level of risk other drivers on the road present to them and choose their policies accordingly.”

The interactive map with numbers from across the state and the nation can be found on the ConsumerAffairs website at https://www.consumeraffairs.com/insurance/car.html#safest-drivers-speed-ms-vicksburg.