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The Worst Drivers In The UK

Car keys next to a spilled drink owned by a drunk driver

We did a survey to better understand who in the UK is home to the worst drivers. We spoke to over 1000 people to enter understand their driving habits, which we’ve detailed below, as well as compiling some tips to improve the nation’s driving habits.

Are you a good driver?

We conducted our own survey of the public, asking them if they believe they are a good driver.

We asked 1375 people the following question;

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?

‘I am a good driver’

  • Strongly agree
  • Somewhat agree
  • Neither agree or disagree
  • Somewhat disagree
  • Strongly disagree

The results are as follows;

  • Strongly agree – 39.85%
  • Somewhat agree – 28.44%
  • Neither agree or disagree – 29.09%
  • Somewhat disagree – 1.6%
  • Strongly disagree – 1.02%

As you can see the answers to this survey are strongly weighted towards people being confident in their own driving skills, with 68.29% of people believing that they are a good driver, and only 2.62% of drivers thinking the opposite.

We have a more detailed breakdown of the survey as we can also see the age, gender and the regions of the people surveyed. Below are some interesting statistics from the survey.

Survey – The breakdown

  • Males were more likely to agree with the statement, as 42% of men strongly agreed they are good drivers, whereas only 37% of women said the same.
  • Despite the fact they may have had less driving experience, more younger drivers strongly agreed they are good drivers. 41% of 16-24 year olds strongly agreed with the statement, 45% of 25-34 year olds felt the same. The older age ranges were not as confident.
  • Drivers from Greater London were the most confident with 45% of people surveyed from there strongly agreeing with the statement, whereas people from Wales felt the opposite, with nearly 7% of people disagreeing with the statement.

Survey – More answers

Our survey also included the option to type in ‘why’ you agreed or disagreed with the statement. We have compiled some of the answers we received.

Agreeing with the statement

‘5 years of driving with very few accidents or incidents’

‘1 accident with over 40 years of driving‘

‘Always consider other drivers’

‘Always stick to the speed limit, use my indicator and watch all the road signs and never use my smartphone while driving‘

‘Because I’ve won races‘

‘I am an advanced trained emergency services driver, up to instructor level. I have 35 years experience driving emergency vehicles, (ambulances and response vehicles‘

‘I have my daughter in the car‘

Disagreeing with the statement

‘I am really lacking in confidence and often do silly things when I am driving places I don’t know very well‘

‘I don’t often drive enough‘

‘I passed my test 6 years ago but I have not driven very often so I am out of practice‘

‘I think that I am a bad driver because sometimes I drive to fast‘

‘I do not drive very often as my husband likes to drive‘

‘I am a very anxious driver, and I hate driving but I have to‘

‘I find parking and town driving difficult‘

There were a wide range of different reasons why people either agreed or disagreed with the statement, although far fewer people decided to use the option of being specific in their reasons for disagreeing with the statement.

People believing they were a good driver largely came down to their experience and lack of accidents, whereas people who disagreed with the statement often mentioned lack of experience, or feeling nervous.

If you want to work on your driving skills, here are some good driving habits you should take into consideration.

Good driving habits

Keep to the speed limit

This is of course one of the most obvious to say, but it is really important, plus it’s easy to do! Just don’t go over the speed limit. Speeding plays a major part in traffic accidents, it is simply not worth risking the lives of others or yourself to get to your destination slightly quicker.

Pay attention to the road

Again, some of the best driving habits you can take up are completely obvious and easy to do. If you are in control of a car then you should make sure that your focus is on the road. You don’t need to check your phone or reply to emails, anything to take your attention away from the road needs to wait. If you must be something else urgently, then you should safely pull over first.

Take regular breaks

As well as speeding, another major contributing factor when it comes to motor accidents is driver fatigue. The best thing to do is if you are going on a long journey, you should always factor in breaks. Crashes that are caused by falling asleep at the wheel are much more likely to cause death, mainly due to there being no attempt to avoid a crash at high speed. If you feel tired while driving, you should stop and take a 20-minute power nap and drink a caffeinated drink.

Don’t drive under the influence

Even forgetting the fact driving under the influence of drink or drugs is illegal can cause your driving capabilities to greatly diminish. It isn’t just putting yourself in danger; you would also be putting other lives at risk, such as fellow drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. If you are going to have a drink before you drive, make sure you stick to the legal limit, bearing in mind that the legal limit in Scotland is much stricter than in the rest of the UK. 

Always consider other road users

The previous good driving habit tips would all link to this. You should be aware that you are not the only one using the road, and it is every driver’s responsibility to make sure that you and others are as safe as possible on the road. Any bad decisions you make on the road can not only put you in danger but put others in danger. If every driver thought this way, the roads would be much safer.