The UK’s car accident hotspots


Updated on 20 April 2021 | 2 Comments

New figures reveal which areas have drivers who are most likely to have been involved in an accident.

Getting caught up in a car accident is an incredibly stressful experience. First and foremost, there’s the risk of injury.

Even a fairly innocuous-looking shunt can lead to the requirement for lengthy treatment for things like whiplash.

Then of course there’s the financial side. The cars involved will need to be repaired, and you’ll either need to turn to your savings or make a claim on your car insurance.

Making that claim of course will then impact the cost of your insurance in the years to come, even if the accident wasn’t actually your fault.

But there can be significant regional differences when it comes to which areas drivers are most likely to be involved in an accident. 

And now new figures have cast a light on which parts of the UK have the best drivers, the ones who don’t get involved in accidents, and which areas have drivers for whom a shunt is an all too regular occurrence.

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The areas with the best drivers

Price comparison giant MoneySuperMarket has published data breaking down which towns boast the best drivers, and which are lumbered with the worst.

The research digs into a whopping 21 million car insurance enquiries run through the site, to pick out which areas are most likely to have drivers who have made a claim for an accident.

This is calculated on a percentage basis, to make comparisons between rival areas a little fairer.

So without any further ado, let’s take a look at the areas boasting the best drivers.

Area

Total enquiries

Enquiries with a main driver accident claim

% of enquiries with a main driver accident claim

IV - Inverness

64,418

6,573

10.20%

DG - Dumfries and Galloway

42,453

4,857

11.44%

PH - Perth

44,020

5,058

11.49%

SY - Shrewsbury

96,021

11,307

11.78%

BT - Belfast

350,074

41,978

11.99%

LL – Llandudno

156,338

19,108

12.22%

EX - Exeter

145,469

18,329

12.60%

TR – Truro

87,353

11,096

12.70%

AB – Aberdeen

153,488

19,510

12.71%

NW – North West London

189,655

24,148

12.73%

 

It seems we all have a lot to learn from Scottish drivers, given the top three spots ‒ and four of the top 10 ‒ are Scottish areas.

It’s important to note that these aren’t all just small regional towns either ‒ the sheer number of enquiries from large areas like Belfast, Aberdeen and NW London show that even if you live in a populous area, you aren’t necessarily more likely to have an accident claim on your record.

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Where do you find the worst drivers?

What about the other end of the scale, where drivers are most likely to have a recent accident claim?

According to MoneySuperMarket, these are the 10 areas with the worst drivers.

Area

Total enquiries

Enquiries with a main driver accident claim

% of enquiries with a main driver accident claim

SM - Sutton

72,728

13,767

18.93%

HP - Hemel Hempstead

173,915

32,777

18.85%

WD - Watford

103,109

18,920

18.35%

SL - Slough

168,875

30,780

18.23%

B - Birmingham

993,649

180,326

18.15%

HD - Huddersfield

115,261

20,779

18.03%

HX - Halifax

73,788

13,302

18.03%

KT - Kingston-upon-Thames

149,522

26,929

18.01%

EN - Enfield

151,013

27,190

18.01%

CM - Chelmsford

220,789

39,509

17.89%

 

It’s difficult to overlook the fact that there are an awful lot of southern areas on this table. Clearly, something happens to drivers once they get lower than the Watford Gap.

Again, looking at the total enquiries for each region, there’s a massive range too from less than 73,000 in Sutton to almost one million motorists in Birmingham.

MoneySuperMarket also highlighted the age differences in those likely to have been in an accident.

Older drivers were found to be least likely, with just 15.03% of those aged 65 or over having endured an accident.

By contrast, it’s young drivers, aged 20 to 24, who were most likely to have a main driver accident claim.

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Reducing your costs

Of course, your postcode is only one factor that goes into calculating your car insurance premium. There are all sorts of other considerations too, from the car itself to your job.

Thankfully that means there are plenty of opportunities for you to act and reduce the cost of your cover. Check out our comprehensive run through of the various things you can do to reduce your car insurance costs.

*This article contains affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission on any sales of products or services we write about. This article was written completely independently.

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