The rankings are adjusted for population density. New York City comes in as the fourth safest city, thanks to its tightly packed population, even though it has more frequent insurance claims and drivers there have to slam on the brakes more often than in other cities on the top 10 list.

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New York is actually the only big city to make the list. The second safest city is Brownsville, Texas, followed by Boise, Idaho. Milwaukee is No. 5, behind New York, with Wichita, Hialeah, Florida, McAllen, Texas, Olathe, Kansas and Lincoln, Nebraska.

The braking information is based on six years of data from Allstate's Drivewise telematics program, which sends a car's driving history electronically to the company for drivers who enroll in the program.