The mighty dragon has mighty drivers
It has been revealed that two Welsh communities have been ranked among the safest in Great Britain for drivers.
Swansea and Bangor came second and third behind Belfast in a poll of the 10 ‘safest’ towns and cities in the UK.
The figures were released from a car insurance firm which focused on 2009 accident claims. The research revealed that England was the nation with proportionately the highest number of collisions in the country. The top 10 ‘riskiest towns and cities’ list nationwide included Slough.
The survey also exposed that regions in Scotland also ranked highly for road safety. Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh all made it into the safest places to drive.
Only four English towns and cities broke into the top 10 safest places for accidents and three out of the four are to be found in East Anglia – Ipswich, Norwich and Cambridge. This makes it the safest region in England for motor accidents.
Welsh pride
MP for Swansea East ,Sian James, said while she was pleased to hear of the city’s low rate of accidents, drivers should remain cautious throughout the winter period.
She said: “I am delighted to hear that Swansea drivers are exercising such care and caution when driving. However I would urge drivers not to become complacent, but to remain cautious when out and about, especially as driving conditions can become more dangerous in the winter.”
Swansea driving instructor Bryan Young said one reason why Welsh urban areas may have been ranked among the safest may be as a result of the popularity of the Pass Plus Cymru scheme.
This is a heavily subsidised scheme costing learner drivers around £20 and involving an additional three hours of classroom theory work and six hours of extra driving tuition.
Mr Young, who runs the driving school Let’s Learn, said: “The three hour theory block really shows the horrors of accidents – probably shock tactics to a certain extent.
“They are also given more driving tuition – especially on motorways with faster driving and on rural roads, which they wouldn’t necessarily get on the normal sort of learner course.”
Stuart Wartalski, spokesman for the group that conducted the study, said the Welsh statistics were a tribute to the work of local authorities and police in Bangor and Swansea in keeping the roads as safe as possible.
“Despite this, though, it is essential that drivers are even more vigilant in the lead up to Christmas when there are usually a greater number of vehicles on the roads and weather conditions can be extremely hazardous.”
However, the head of AA public affairs Paul Watters, argued against this and said fewer claims do not necessarily mean safer roads.“You can’t say they’re the safest. They’re the most claim-free. It could just be that people are not making claims despite having crashes.
“You don’t always make a claim these days – some people have got an excess and they don’t want to lose it. It might be that they’re only having minor bumps and not reporting them to insurance companies.”
Watters also pointed out that the insurance group could have fewer customers in the areas, meaning less accidents would occur due to less people.
Updated on 12/22/2009