Cardiff tops Safe Driver Index as new analysis ranks the UK’s safest drivers

Cardiff has topped the new Safe Driver Index, with drivers in the Welsh capital ranked as the safest in the UK based on insurance claims and road collision data.

The research, carried out by Marshmallow Car Insurance, analysed more than 500,000 data points, including accident claims, police-reported collisions and the severity of crashes across 69 UK postcode areas.

Rather than comparing the total number of collisions, the Safe Driver Index adjusts for the number of insured vehicles in each area, providing a fairer comparison between locations with different populations and traffic volumes.

Top 10 safest postcode areas

The highest-scoring areas were:

1. Cardiff – 100.0
2. Aberdeen – 96.5
3. Motherwell – 94.1
4. Taunton – 90.9
5. Southend – 85.4
6. Bristol – 83.9
7. Stockport – 83.5
8. Hemel Hempstead – 81.5
9. Oldham – 79.5
10. Oxford – 77.2

Wales and Scotland perform strongly

The findings suggest that Welsh and Scottish drivers perform particularly well when adjusted for vehicle ownership.

Scotland achieved the highest average regional safety score of 95.3, followed by Wales on 80.3. London recorded the lowest average score at 30.5.

Marshmallow says the rankings combine three measures:

• Accident claims per 1,000 insurance policies (50% weighting)
• Police-recorded collisions per 1,000 registered vehicles (25%)
• Serious or fatal police-recorded collisions per 1,000 registered vehicles (25%)

What does this mean for driver trainers?

Although the rankings should not be interpreted as a measure of individual driver ability, they reinforce the importance of developing safe driving behaviours that reduce collisions and insurance claims.

For ADIs, PDIs and rider trainers, the research provides another reminder that defensive driving, hazard awareness and sound decision-making remain central to producing safer drivers. It also highlights how insurers are increasingly using a wider range of driving data when assessing risk and rewarding safer motorists.

Oliver Kent-Braham, Co-CEO of Marshmallow, said the results demonstrate why adjusting for local vehicle numbers provides a more meaningful comparison than simply counting collisions.

The full methodology combines Marshmallow’s insurance claims data with publicly available road collision and vehicle ownership statistics.

Further information, including the interactive postcode map, is available on Marshmallow’s website. This story is based on information released by Marshmallow: https://www.marshmallow.com/safe-driver-index