The top cause of car accidents in Britain revealed

Richard Aucock, Contributor
Mon, 29 Jul 2024

There were over 330,000 collisions on British roads in 2022 and analysis of official figures from the Department for Transport has revealed what causes them.

Topping the list by a huge margin is ‘driver or rider error’. This was the cause of more than 105,000 collisions – accounting for almost 1 in 3 accidents in 2022.

Next on the official ‘tick box’ citing the cause of accidents is ‘behaviour or inexperience’, although this is far behind on around 37,000 collisions.

Then it’s ‘injudicious action’ which is the cause of around 31,500 collisions, and ‘impairment or distraction’ on 26,550.

Rounding out the top five causes of accidents in Britain is ‘pedestrian only – either casualty or uninjured’ on around 20,500 collisions. This is where pedestrians suffer an incident without a vehicle being involved.

The stats show that only around 16,000 collisions were cause by the road environment itself. This means that drivers were to blame for almost 150% more accidents than the roads they were driving on.

"Driver effort is by far the biggest cause of accidents around the country, with motorists failing to look properly being one of the leading factors," says Go.Compare insurance expert Tom Banks.

"Clearly, there is a need to identify why this is the case to reduce these numbers in the future."

The figures also show that driving on slippery roads caused 4244 accidents in Britain during 2022. Vision being affected by dazzling sun, rain, sleet, snow or fog contributed to 3640 collisions.

However, despite recent research showing that 9 in 10 drivers think headlights on modern cars are too bright, drivers being dazzled by headlights caused just 211 accidents in Britain during 2022.

Banks also reminded motorists that failing to report an accident to your insurer can mean your policy is voided in the future.

"If you’re involved in an accident, it’s firstly important to stop safely and turn your hazard lights on. If it’s not an emergency, you’ll just need to swap details with the other party and report the accident to your insurer within 24 hours if you can. Your provider will then decide if it’s a non-fault claim, or if you were at fault.”

Ask HJ

Does the owner of a car have to be named as the main driver for insurance purposes?

I am the owner and registered keeper of a Peugeot 107 that I have not used for over a year as I now have a new car. The Peugeot is in the garage, untaxed, uninsured, has no valid MoT and is SORN by the DVLA. My partner who is currently taking driving lessons and has a provisional driving licence wants to use the Peugeot once she has passed her theory and practical tests. Once she passes she will then use the car and be the one who drives it the most to work etc, although I will also use it occasionally. It can get a bit confusing when obtaining insurance quotes as to who is the main driver, named driver and registered keeper. Am I right in thinking that if my partner insures the Peugeot then she must be the main driver but I can be the named driver but I can still remain as the registered keeper? I've also noticed when trying to obtain an insurance quote it asks who the owner is, so is this me or my partner or is that the same as the main driver? It's all very confusing!

You’re right - your partner will have to be named as the main driver on the policy if they’re going to be driving the car the most. In terms of who officially owns the vehicle, you can remain as the registered keeper from an insurance point of view. But some insurer’s may not offer any cover due to potential complexities if you ever needed to make a claim. It’s not impossible though to get insured. Just make sure you’re accurate with all information you give and be wary that your options will most likely be limited if you decide to go down this route.

Answered by Louise Thomas

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