Nightmare On Any Street: White Van Man vs Boy Racer

‘White van man’ and ‘boy racers’ are Britain’s most feared motorists, according to research from general insurer Royal & SunAlliance (R&SA).

The survey showed that a quarter of pedestrians (24%) fear younger drivers the most, but for motorists, lorry drivers and van drivers are seen as the biggest threat (19%).

The survey, commissioned to discover Britain’s most feared driver, also highlighted the fact that male drivers are more wary than their female counterparts of lorries, vans and young drivers. The study showed that 40 per cent of men on the road worry most about them, whereas this figure drops to under a third for female drivers.

Regionally, the East Midlands was found to be the most van and lorry phobic, with a fifth of pedestrians and almost a quarter of drivers apprehensive about them. Young drivers raised hairs on the back of necks of Scottish pedestrians, with a third of them fearful of a collision with a boy or girl racer.

According to R&SA’s own claims data, in the past twelve months, for accidents involving vans the van drivers were found to be at fault for almost two thirds of the accidents, costing around £30 million in claims.

Commenting on the findings, Graham Johnston, commercial motor underwriting director at R&SA, said: “There's nothing like driving to bring out strong views in people and it's not surprising that pedestrians and drivers have such different opinions about who poses the greatest threat on the road. Regardless of your view, there are things all drivers can do to reduce their risk on the road. As a leading insurer we have a number of initiatives to promote safer driving, including our driver training open to company car and van drivers, discounts for young drivers choosing not to drive at night and, of course, if drivers stay clear of accidents there is the no claims discount to reward safer driving.”