Poll Reveals Dishonesty Of Drivers Causing Damage

A NEW poll, commissioned by ContractHireAndLeasing.com, has found that a worrying 30% say they would consider leaving the scene of an accident after only causing minor damage. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, 4% said they would leave even if extensive damage was caused.

The research also showed that honesty among drivers varies extensively between age, location and income groups.

By region, Scotland was found to have the most honest motorists, with 63% saying they would make sure they could be contacted about repairs, while motorists in the North East appear to be the most dishonest. In this region, 7% said they would leave the scene of the accident if they damaged another car, compared to just 1% in Wales.

A further 36% in the North East said they would consider fleeing the scene of an accident without passing on their contact details if the damage was only minor, compared to just 22% in Scotland.

The survey also found that the UK population appears to get more honest with age. The poll found that younger motorists are most likely to consider making a getaway from an accidental bump or scrape.

In the 25-34 age bracket, 7% reported they would fail to stop after damaging another car, compared to just 1% of the 65+ age group. An impressive 63% of this latter age group said they would wait for the car’s owners to return or leave their contact details – the highest level of reported honesty of any group.

Commenting on the survey results, David Timmis, Managing Director at ContractHireAndLeasing.com said: “Although we are generally a nation of honest motorists, it is sad to see that nearly one third of motorists would try to avoid paying for repairs if no-one was around to witness their accident.

“It is easy to scrape or hit another car whilst driving, especially with larger cars having to squeeze into tight car parking spaces, but the regional variances may indicate historical trends in those areas, where bad experiences of vehicle damage mean individuals are less likely to report an accident if they in-turn damage another vehicle.

“As ever, the older British generation are showing the rest of us the right path by being honest no matter who may, or may not, have seen the accident.”

On the whole, the UK is a nation of honest motorists, with more than half of us (52%) stating that we would own up if we accidentally damaged someone else’s car, even if no-one was around to witness it.

By Press Association reporters