Those who pass their driving test at the first go are the safest drivers, according to new data.
Price comparison website MoneySuperMarket’s data looks at the number of attempts drivers had to pass their test. This is then compared with the number of car accidents they experienced in both their first three years of driving and across their driving lifetime.
The findings show that new drivers who require fewer test attempts also have fewer accidents. One third (33 percent) of first-time passers have had zero accidents since passing their test, while half (51 percent) did not have an accident in their first three years on the road.
First-time passers also recorded the fewest accidents over their driving lifetime to date: 1.5 on average. That’s less than the national average of 2.3.
Londoners least likely to pass
One third (32 percent) of second-time passers also have a clean driving licence since passing their test, and nearly half (46 percent) had no accidents during their first three years on the road. Drivers who passed on their second attempt had a lifetime average of 1.7 accidents.
In comparison, 18 percent of drivers who took five attempts to pass had no accidents over their driving lifetime. Of this group, a quarter (25 percent) reported having three or more accidents in their first three years of driving, as well as an average of three accidents over the course of their driving lifetime.
Welsh drivers are the most likely to pass their test first time, at 48 percent, followed by those in Scotland (47 percent). Londoners have the least success at passing first time, at 37 percent.
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