If you live within a mile of a church, you're far less likely to have a car accident than drivers who live more than a mile from a church. But if you live within one mile of a restaurant, you face a significantly greater risk of an accident than most other drivers. Those are among the key findings of a study released today by a leading predictive analytics company -- Quality Planning Corporation -- a firm that helps insurance companies price insurance more accurately and fairly.

Quality Planning Corporation (QPC) examined the relationship between where a vehicle owner lives and the likelihood that he will be involved in an auto accident, and concluded that the riskiest place to live is within one mile of a restaurant. In fact, if the owner of an automobile lives within one mile of an eating establishment, he is 30 percent more likely to crash his car than if he lived more than one mile from the restaurant.

The study examined more than 15 million policyholders and two million claims, mapping the proximity of vehicle-owners' addresses to various types of businesses, including amusement centers, bars, churches, dentists' and doctors' offices, parking lots, banks, car dealers, car washes, child day-care centers, gas stations, medical buildings, movie theaters, optometrists' offices, schools and shopping centers. The study found that the riskiest places to live near are restaurants, grocery stores, schools and banks. At the other end of the scale, individuals that live within one mile of an airport, park, forest or racetrack are much less likely to suffer vehicle damage.

When it comes to car crashes, churches are the least risky neighbor of all. People who live within one mile of a church are 10 percent less likely to have an accident resulting in a property damage claim than if they lived one more than one mile from the church.

Commenting on the statistics, Dr. Daniel Finnegan, founder and CEO of QPC, noted: "It's well known that auto insurers use a policyholder's ZIP code to calculate the risk he or she represents. New technology enables us to be even more accurate in determining the level of risk associated with a policy by identifying the specific risk factors associated with that policyholder's home address.

Insurance companies have historically based policyholders' rates on their ZIP code or where their vehicle is kept. While ZIP codes may be convenient and necessary for speedy mail delivery, they are not a particularly good predictor of property/casualty insurance losses. The ability to assess risk at the street-address level is a major breakthrough in private passenger auto underwriting and will eventually lead to more accurate rating and could reduce premiums for some drivers.

  TABLE: Increase in physical damage claims by living within one mile of:

    Top Tier                                                               Bottom Tier
    Restaurant                      30%                           Racetrack or amusement park   11%
    Grocery store                   26%                          Hotel, motel, resort or spa    5%
    Elementary/secondary school  26%        National park or forest        4%
    Bank                            25%                               Local or community park        3%
    Car dealer                      23%                           Airport                        2%
    Gas station                     22%                          Doctor's office or clinic      1%
    Liquor store                    18%                          Religious institution        -10%