Driving tests are enough to give any driver anxiety, but for some people the anxiety turns into fear when the test ends with a collision. The good news is that new data from INtelligentCarLeasing.com reveals that there has been a decrease in how many drivers’ tests end in a crash for the last five years. The company projects that this year the number will fall even further.
The data shows that the number of collisions during driving tests has fallen dramatically over the past five years. In fact, the number of collisions during tests in 2013 decreased overall by about 22% when compared with figures from 2009.
The most interesting finding from the data is that the number of collisions reported for the first quarter of 2014 predicts a huge fall in driving test crashes this year.
With only 20 collisions recorded so far, the extrapolated year end crash rate would be only 80 collisions. A huge drop of around 87% from what was recorded back in 2009!
When talking to experts within the driving instruction industry possible explanations for this decline have been broadly narrowed down to two reasons:
- The worst candidates at the bottom end of the spectrum have improved their standard of driving; which would explain steady pass rates but reduced collisions.
- Another explanation could be that driving examiners are becoming more proactive in taking preventative action and stepping in at an earlier stage when a dangerous situation arises.
Pete McAllister who conducted the research said “It’s hugely positive to see such a trend emerging in the UK’s learner driver industry. The fall in collisions during tests we’ve found reflects well on UK road safety and paints a positive picture for the future of motoring.”
