Bad Drivers Spend £560 More On Fuel Each Year

Poor drivers spend 67 per cent more on fuel than the best drivers – amounting to nearly £50 every month

Analysis of driving patterns by Direct Line DrivePlus has revealed that bad driving habits are not only costly in terms of road safety, but they also have a direct impact on drivers’ pockets.  A January 2017 study by one of the UK’s leading providers of telematics insurance policies has estimated that those with the best driving styles will spend an average of £837 per year on fuel, compared to £1,399 for those with the worst – a difference of £562 (67 per cent).
 
Analysts for Direct Line DrivePlus studied over 319,000 journeys by more than 2,000 drivers during a two month period and found that those with lowest ranking driving habits drive an average of 413 miles between petrol station fill ups, compared to 693 miles for those with the best scores.
 
Based on the average UK annual mileage of 8,200, those with the lowest scores will have to visit the petrol station around 20 times per year – nearly twice as often as those with the highest rating, who need to fill up only 12 times on average. The table below provides more detail. Drivers are rated on driving habits such as speed, braking and steering, with a score of one being the lowest – reflecting the worst driving habits – and ten being the best.

Bearing in mind that business users are likely to drive twice the average annual mileage of 8,200, the potential savings associated with safer, smoother driving could be up to £1,000 per annum, per fleet vehicle.

Source: Direct Line UK