Map shows British cities with best and worst drivers

5. Chichester

Kicking off the top five is the Roman-founded city in West Sussex. According to the stats, more drivers there passed their test on the first try than any of the other 63 places listed.

4. Norwich

The Norfolk city had just one fatal car crash in 2020/21, giving it a rate of 0.05 fatal incidents per 10,000 – the lowest on the list.

3. Cardiff

The Welsh capital has an impressively low rate of serious and slight crashes per 10,000 population (11.54) and an impressively high number of people passing their first test without any faults (187).

2. Aberdeen

The Granite City, Scotland’s third largest, had the second-highest percentage of people who passed their driving test on the first try (62.2%) after Chichester. The other stats were good enough to earn the lovely seaside spot second place.

1. Preston

But coming top is the pleasant city of Preston, which scored impressive numbers across the board to give it a comfortable lead. Its 0.06 fatal crashes per 10,000 population is one of the lowest listed, while its 61.1% test pass rate is one of the highest.

Dundee was in sixth place, London in seventh, Newport in eighth, Chelmsford came ninth, and Southend-on-Sea rounded out the top ten.

5. Doncaster

Bad news for the South Yorkshire city, as it comes out fifth worst in this ranking. Its main issues are the driving tests, with a pass rate of just 41.4% and 42.4% of people passing on the first go.

4. Cambridge

There were 55 fatal crashes in Cambridge over 2020/21, according to the statistics, meaning it has a very high rate of 3.47 per 10,000 population.

3. Birmingham

The UK’s second-biggest city is also home to its third-worst drivers, according to this data. A lower percentage of people pass their tests first time there than almost any of the other cities listed – just 40%.

2. Plymouth

With fairly normal crash statistics, it’s driving tests that have brought Plymouth down to its unenviable position on the table. The pass rate in the city is just 37.9, and the first-time pass percentage is 37.4% – only Wolverhampton, which a pass rate of 35.2 with 35.7% first-time passers, is lower.

1. Leeds

The largest city in West Yorkshire crashes into last place on the list. That’s down to poor numbers across the board: a fatal crash rate of 0.64 per 10,000 population; a serious and slight crash rate of 52.1 per 10,000; a driving test pass rate of 41.2; a first-time pass percentage of 40.2% and only 16 drivers who passed their test first time with no faults. Hard luck, Leeds.