British cities with best (and worst) drivers are revealed in new study… where does yours rank?

The British cities which have the best and worst drivers have been revealed in a new study.

Motorists were given a ‘driver index’ based on fatal, serious and slight traffic accidents in UK cities over two years as well as taking into account driving test pass rates and those who successfully acquired their license first time or with no faults since April 2022.

The traffic accident data between 2020 and 2021 gives a strong indication to which cities have strong drivers behind the wheel, and which areas have work to be done.

A spokesman for One Sure Insurance – who collated the data – said: ‘On average someone is injured or killed on roads in the UK every 16 minutes. The majority of these accidents are caused by speeding. Bad driving can lead to preventable accidents, death and damage that could cost you.’

With that in mind, where do drivers in your city rank?

The British cities which have the best and worst drivers have been revealed in a new study – so where does yours rank?

1. Preston

The Lancashire city should be proud of its drivers. It’s claimed there were just two fatal accidents in Preston over two years (0.06 per 10,000), while there were also the highest number of people passing on their first attempt with zero faults (174), giving them an overall driver index of 40.48.

2. Aberdeen

The Granite City comes second with only 6.41 serious or slight traffic accidents per 10,000 people, despite being the third most populous city in the country.

62 per cent of drivers in Aberdeen passed on their first attempt, with 132 passing with zero faults since April 2022. Their overall score was 35.71.

3. Cardiff

HOW WAS THE DATA WORKED OUT?

The study analysed fatal, serious and slight traffic accidents across two years (2021-22).

It also considered driving test pass rates, those who passed first time and how many were successful with zero faults since April 2022.

Each category was then given a score out of 10 in relation to how it ranked compared to other cities.

The scores for each category were then added up to give the ‘drivers index’ which highlights how good (or bad) drivers are in each city.

Perhaps English motorists need to work on their driving because another city outside of England comes next. Drivers in the Welsh capital Cardiff rank among some of the best in the UK.

It’s claimed there have been just 0.16 fatal accidents per 10,000 people, with an overall test pass rate of 59.2 per cent, making drivers in Cardiff as some of the safest around. Their score was 34.12.

4. Norwich

Despite Norwich having the fewest fatalities in the data set (0.05 per 10,000), it has more serious and slight accidents (26.18 per 10,000), which is why it has to settle for fourth in the battle for the best drivers in the UK.

On average, 53.1 per cent of drivers pass their tests, while an impressive 56.2 per cent pass on their first attempt. The overall score was 33.82.

5. Chichester

The Cathedral West Sussex city makes up the top five, with 0.64 fatalities and 41.1 serious and slight accidents per 10,000. However, drivers have strong passing rates, with 66.5 per cent successful on their first attempt. Their final score was 29.48.

Dundee, London, Newport, Chelmsford and Southend-on-Sea make up the top 10 UK cities with the best drivers. Pass rates in the capital are relatively low with only 44.8 per cent passing on average. It’s no surprise that London, as the most populated city, had the most fatal accidents of any UK city with 171 (0.19 per 10,000).

The new data has found that drivers in Preston rank the highest out of any other city in the UK

So with the good motorists out the way, which UK cities has the worst drivers on the roads?

1. Leeds

As mentioned previously, Leeds has the unfortunate accolade of having the worst drivers in the UK. With a population of 455,123, there were 0.64 fatal accidents per 10,000 people, while pass rates are as low as 41.2 per cent. Their score is 15.01.

2. Plymouth

Pass rates are even lower in Plymouth, with only 37.9 per cent successful on average. However drivers in the south west city rank higher than Leeds because of having lower fatal, serious and slight accidents. Their total score is 16.14.

3. Birmingham

‘Second City’ Birmingham has the third worst drivers, with 0.37 per 10,000 fatal accidents and 39.65 per 10,000 serious and slight accidents. Pass rates are low at 42.5 per cent, giving them a total score of 16.53.

4. Cambridge

Astonishingly, Cambridge has one of the highest rankings for fatal accidents (3.47 per 10,000), while there were 118.28 per 10,000 serious and slight accidents. Cambridge is only beaten for fatal accidents by Ripon, who had 13 traffic incidents that led to death, despite the population of the North Yorkshire city being 15,600.

5. Doncaster

Ripon does not actually feature in the top five worst cities for driving, with Doncaster coming in behind Cambridge to take fifth spot. They had 0.70 fatal accidents per 10,000, while driving pass rates are at 41.4 per cent. Their total score was 16.77.

Wrexham, Oxford, Lichfield, Southampton and Wolverhampton all make up the rest of the 10 cities with the worst drivers.

Drivers in Leeds (pictured) rank as the worst in the UK, with high rates of accidents and low levels of passing tests

WHERE DOES YOUR CITY RANK FOR DRIVING?
Area	Population	Fatal Traffic accidents 20/21	Per 10,000	Serious & Slight traffic accidents 20/21	Per 10,000	Test centre Pass rate	% Pass on 1st try	1st test with 0 faults	Drivers index
Preston	313,332	2	0.06	398	12.7	61.1	57.1	242	40.38
Aberdeen	196,670	3	0.15	126	6.41	50.9	62.2	132	35.71
Cardiff	447,287	7	0.16	516	11.54	59.2	58.1	187	34.12
Norwich	213,166	1	0.05	558	26.18	53.1	56.2	115	33.82
Chichester	124,100	8	0.64	510	41.1	65	66.5	174	29.48
Dundee	141,870	3	0.21	257	18.12	62.8	59.7	108	28.86
London	8,961,989	171	0.19	6482	7.23	44.8	45	75	28.07
Newport	306,844	5	0.16	325	10.59	50.2	52.8	58	26.99
Chelmsford	111,511	2	0.18	270	24.21	50.5	52.2	120	25.84
Southend-on-Sea	295,310	3	0.1	437	14.8	50.8	53.5	18	25.55
Derby	270,468	5	0.18	921	34.05	48.8	51.8	137	25.38
Bristol	617,280	15	0.24	1466	23.75	56.2	49.1	114	25.37
Edinburgh	464,990	9	0.19	909	19.55	47.8	52.5	85	24.46
Carlisle	78,470	3	0.38	221	28.16	52.5	59.1	76	23.61
Swansea	300,352	10	0.33	339	11.29	52.4	50.2	21	23.56
Kingston upon Hull	314,018	15	0.48	1172	37.32	51.3	52.8	120	23.49
Winchester	46,074	8	1.74	288	62.51	51.4	56.8	137	23.41
Stoke-on-Trent	372,775	4	0.11	435	11.67	44.4	39.7	17	23.37
Salisbury	41,820	6	1.43	298	71.26	55.7	55.6	126	23.36
Durham	47,785	29	6.07	978	204.67	59	62.1	109	23.31
Bath	94,782	6	0.63	346	36.5	56.2	49.1	114	23.24
Manchester	395,515	24	0.61	1242	31.4	48.6	49.1	114	22.38
Portsmouth	194,150	9	0.46	846	43.57	49.4	50.5	105	22.02
Hereford	61,000	12	1.97	562	92.13	58.3	61.3	70	22.01
Dunfermline	53,100	6	1.13	104	19.59	49.7	51.4	69	21.91
Lincoln	114,879	4	0.35	364	31.69	52.4	50.7	69	21.91
York	153,717	7	0.46	559	36.37	53	48.9	79	21.56
Nottingham	321,500	6	0.19	1199	37.29	46	51.1	49	21.02
Peterborough	163,379	16	0.98	637	38.99	50.9	51	81	20.97
Colchester	121,859	3	0.25	368	30.2	44	45	79	20.83
City of Salford	72,750	9	1.24	566	77.8	48.6	49.1	114	20.77
Exeter	117,763	3	0.25	239	20.29	51	44.1	28	20.63
Leicester	508,916	10	0.2	854	16.78	39.5	41	47	20.39
Perth	47,180	8	1.7	271	57.44	54.9	60.1	34	20.28
Milton Keynes	229,941	8	0.35	632	27.49	49.8	45	50	20.17
Sheffield	685,368	20	0.29	1517	22.13	44.3	45	49	20.11
Lancaster	47,162	6	1.27	277	58.73	56.3	53.5	40	19.82
Liverpool	864,122	17	0.2	1571	18.18	41.4	43.6	23	19.78
Sunderland	335,415	11	0.33	635	18.93	45.8	44.6	23	19.52
Wakefield	78,978	11	1.39	859	108.76	49	48.5	90	19.48
Brighton and Hove	139,001	5	0.36	1168	84.03	52.3	53.7	30	19.43
Chester	90,524	2	0.22	291	32.15	45.1	42.3	39	19.03
St Albans	84,561	5	0.59	309	36.54	43.6	45	70	18.91
Glasgow	591,620	22	0.37	1098	18.56	41.2	43.7	26	18.7
Stirling	36,440	14	3.84	140	38.42	47.4	51.6	42	18.58
Ripon	15,600	13	8.33	364	233.33	52.8	56.1	39	18.5
Inverness	46,870	9	1.92	134	28.59	51.6	47.6	22	18.49
Worcestershire	101,659	33	3.25	1415	139.19	50.1	55.8	40	18.36
Canterbury	55,240	8	1.45	435	78.75	49.6	50.3	47	18.27
Coventry	359,262	10	0.28	805	22.41	44.2	43.2	8	18.17
Bradford	299,310	29	0.97	1736	58	50.8	50.9	25	18.09
Newcastle upon Tyne	192,382	4	0.21	804	41.79	44.5	41.6	28	18.05
Gloucester	150,053	44	2.93	1400	93.3	52.6	50.9	32	17.92
Wolverhampton	252,791	6	0.24	843	33.35	35.2	35.7	77	17.86
Southampton	246,201	12	0.49	796	32.33	41.6	47.2	34	17.85
Lichfield	32,877	2	0.61	111	33.76	47.5	43.3	19	17.27
Oxford	171,380	48	2.8	1684	98.26	47.3	48.1	40	16.98
Wrexham	65,692	7	1.07	275	41.86	52.9	43.8	4	16.86
Doncaster	158,141	11	0.7	1106	69.94	41.4	42.4	59	16.77
Cambridge	158,434	55	3.47	1874	118.28	50.1	47.3	29	16.7
Birmingham	984,333	36	0.37	3903	39.65	42.5	40	26	16.53
Plymouth	260,203	8	0.31	768	29.52	37.9	37.4	24	16.14
Leeds	455,123	29	0.64	2371	52.1	41.2	40.2	16	15.01

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