Swansea named safest city for motorists

The results of a new survey conducted by a top car insurance company have placed Swansea at the top of the list as one of the safest cities in the UK for motorists.

The Welsh city was placed second throughout the whole country in a comprehensive survey of the number of car accident claims made in cities across the UK.

Car insurance giant Endsleigh took into account a number of factors including car insurance claims, recorded accidents and incidents of speeding.

According to data based on the number of claims made, Swansea was 27 per cent below the national average number of car insurance claims made.

However, some sceptics have suggested that the reason for the low number of accidents is that the city is plagued by ongoing road works.

Motorists in Swansea complain that they are so often stuck in slow moving traffic that there is no chance of an accident as most of the traffic is practically at a standstill anyway.

The results of their survey placed Belfast at the top spot for ‘safe-street’ cities, with Swansea coming in a close second, followed by Aberdeen.

Interestingly, no English cities troubled the top spots, while the bottom three cities for road safety were all English.

Famously unpopular Slough in Berkshire came out bottom, with the highest number of claims nationwide, followed by Ilford in east London and Birmingham.

According to the results of the survey, Slough, made famous by poet Sir John Betjeman, who claimed it was "not fit for humans", and as the location for the Ricky Gervais sitcom The Office, had 50 per cent more claims than the national average.

Endsleigh spokeswoman Rhiannon Harris said: "Drivers need to be even more vigilant leading up to Christmas when there is usually a greater number of vehicles on the roads and when weather conditions can be extremely hazardous.

"Our report highlights that some towns and cities represent a greater risk for motorists than others."

Ms Harris added: "It is important motorists throughout the country are extra vigilant at this time of year."

Also at this time of year, especially in such hard economic times, the Insurance Fraud Bureau are warning of the increase in ‘cash for crash’ accidents.

The term ‘cash for crash’ refers to drivers who set up bogus accidents, sometimes tricking other drivers into crashing into them by disabling their brake lights and then stopping suddenly, who then make lucrative bogus insurance claims.

In some cases the tricksters make personal injury claims as well, demanding thousands in compensation for accidents which were actually deliberately caused by them.

Richard Davies, deputy chairman of the Insurance Fraud Bureau, said: "It's got to the stage that this is now an issue of national concern and safety. The thought there are drivers who want to take you off the road is horrifying."

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