For many people, driving a car is an important part of daily life and therefore safety and security of cars from both crime and incident is high on peoples priorities.
According to a recent study, some may have to try harder than others to protect their pride and joy, as where you live may impact the likelihood of your car coming to any harm.
Insurance comparison site Quotezone has analysed both road traffic accident data and vehicle offences in the 45 police force areas to create a list of the best to worst places to own a car.
London and Scotland top the list, for different reasons
The city of London, Police Scotland, and the Greater London area covered by Metropolitan Police were the three worst areas Quotezone found to drive a car, albeit for different reasons.
While the City of London itself has proved to be somewhat of a statistical outlier, with a population of only 8,000 by night but 400,000 entering the city by day boosting the Car Danger Rating (CDR) to 97.86, the Greater London area by Metropolitan Police has the third highest amount of road traffic accidents per capita in the UK (only Northern Ireland and Kent have more), and an overall CTR of 19.76. No doubt that the amount of traffic is largely to blame.
Police Scotland, a combined force for the entire of Scotland, squeezes in between the two London forces with a CDR of 28.17. This is despite holding the top spot for the fewest number of road accidents. Yet, Scotland unfortunately sees the highest number of vehicle offences and therefore its second place – remember to lock your doors when visiting!
The West Midlands, Birmingham and Wolverhampton in particular, finds itself in the fourth spot with a CDR of 18.48. Birmingham alone recorded 100 vehicle crimes just within the month of July 2018. Bedfordshire completes the top 5 with a CDR of 16.38, with 7.42 road traffic accidents and 8.96 vehicle crimes per 1,000 inhabitants.
Wales leading the way in vehicle safety
Lonely Planet had named North Wales the best place to live in 2016, however its now also been named the best place to own a car! Wrexham reported only 14 vehicle crimes in the whole of 2018 since January (and a CDR of just 7.29), however there are certain streets that have high concentration rates of crime in comparison to others.
Dfed-Powys (CDR 8.7) and Gwent (9.01) end up in 2nd and 4th spots respectively, meaning that the majority of Wales is in the top 5, with South Wales finishing 12th safest out of the 45.
Don’t despair
Wherever you live, you shouldn’t worry. Just be proactive in protecting yourself and your car. To keep your car from the gaze of criminals, remember to keep valuables out of sight when you park your car, turn your car wheels into the curb, and install an anti-theft system. These ways help to deter thieves. On the road, remember to observe the highway code and the speed limits to avoid incident.
If you do end up in an accident that causes personal injury, call us on 0800 29 800 29 to see if you are eligible to claim compensation and plan for tomorrow.
