Counties in Scotland have a much higher incidence of vehicles in a dangerous condition than their English counterparts, according to research published by a vehicle leasing company.
New research by Intelligent Car Leasing shows the safety levels of vehicles across all UK counties by looking at penalties applied to driving licences in 2013.
The DVLA provided Intelligent Car Leasing with details of the number of cases where driving licence penalty points were applied for ‘construction and use’ offences, which relate to the condition or use of a vehicle posing a dangerous risk to the driver and others.
Intelligent Car Leasing says that the majority of the top 40 most dangerous areas are in Scotland.
The insurer goes on to say that it is difficult to tell whether this is down to a “genuinely less safe record of vehicle maintenance/use or more vigilant policing”.
The DVLA data has been further filtered by Intelligent Car Leasing to create a comparative set of results on a points applied per capita basis. The refined data shows the number of cases of ‘construction and use’ penalty points applied per 10,000 residents for each county.
On this basis, the insurer concludes that the “most dangerous” out of all UK counties is Stirling in Central Scotland, with 99.67 incidences of ‘construction and use’ penalties being applied per 10,000 residents.
At the opposite end of the spectrum Gloucestershire in south west England is the safest, with 4.99 incidences per 10,000 residents.
Click here to access to full details of the study including a complete table of results and downloadable data.
“The insurer goes on to say that it is difficult to tell whether this is down to a “genuinely less safe record of vehicle maintenance/use or more vigilant policing”.
So no help whatsover then. Best not to use phrases like “most dangerous” based on this sort of inconclusive research.
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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