British drivers are safest in Europe

A Europe-wide ‘Road Behaviour Survey' covering nine countries by swiftcover.com's parent AXA reveals British drivers to be the safest.

The study, involving interviews with 800 drivers from Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and Great Britain, found that most (92 per cent) British drivers felt safe on their country's roads, versus a European average of 72 per cent. The survey also showed that nearly half (41 per cent) of British drivers believed there was stricter law enforcement on British roads, compared with a European average of 37 per cent.

Not only do Europeans consider British drivers to be the safest, Brits themselves have overwhelming self belief as three out of four UK drivers thought they were good drivers. More than two thirds (64 per cent) of British drivers also believe they are better drivers than other European countries.

Britain has one of the lowest rates of deaths on the roads with 5.4 people per 10,000 being killed on the roads, just above Switzerland, which has the lowest, and below Germany. Interestingly, the same three countries with good scores on road safety have a high fatality rate in the 18-24 age group.

Education and awareness about the dangers on British road seems to be the strongest influence of driver safety:

92 per cent of Brits thought answering the mobile phone without a hands free set was dangerous, compared with 85 per cent of respondents from the rest of Europe

Almost all (95 per cent) British drivers said driving too fast just a few metres behind the car ahead is dangerous, compared with the European average of 90 per cent

Similarly, drunk driving was viewed as dangerous by most (92 per cent) British drivers, compared with only 85 per cent of other European drivers

Most British drivers consider speed cameras to reduce the seriousness of accidents. The majority of respondents also supported the introduction of in-built sensors to enforce cars to automatically drive within the speed limit.

Commenting on the results, Tina Shortle, marketing director at swiftcover.com said: "It is clear that British drivers put safety higher up on the agenda when driving compared to their European neighbours. It seems that the drivers surveyed would welcome greater automated controls inside the car to ensure roads are even safer in the future. As an exclusively online company with a focus on using technology to make insurance simpler and faster, swiftcover.com supports all in-car enhancements to ensure our drivers are kept safe."