Young and novice drivers are more likely to have road accidents because of their lack of driving experience, which is something many road safety campaigners want to change. One expert said recently, “Reducing accidents involving young drivers should be the number one road safety priority. Research carried out by the insurance industry shows that teenage drivers are 10 times more likely to be killed or seriously injured while driving than motorists in their 40’s.  In addition, while road deaths and serious accidents are falling on average for the majority, they are going up for young people by a shocking 12 per cent last year. We need a massive effort from everyone to end this tragedy.”   

A recent study carried out in the UK of more than 500,000 motor insurance claims showed that drivers called Lauren or Luke were the most likely to have a car accident.

A spokesperson for the company that carried out the research said, “Our results definitely show that motorists with some names have a higher probability of being involved in a car accident than others. There is no obvious reason for this, although some of these names are more common in younger people, who present a higher risk of having an accident.”

Male motorists named Luke were 21 per cent more likely to be involved in a road collision then the average male driver, with female drivers called Lauren being 24 per cent more likely to have a bump then the average female driver.

The research, which looked at claimants’ first names only, also discovered that the second most accident-prone male drivers were called Sam, followed by Ben, Daniel and Joseph.

The second most common female name to be involved in a car accident claim was Danielle, followed by Jessica, Leanne and Natalie.

Drivers who were least likely to have a collision were called Douglas and Margaret. Men called Douglas were 43 per cent less likely to have an accident than those called Luke, with women named Margaret 44 per cent less likely to be involved in a collision than those named Lauren.

The next safest male drivers behind Douglas were called Raymond, Iain, Gordon and Trevor, with women named Ann, Lesley, Anne and Wendy the least at risk of having an accident after Margaret.