Halifax has been dubbed Britain’s bad driving capital, with twice the national average of motorists having at least six points on their licence. Shock figures show more than 4,800 drivers in the HX postcode area have six or more penalty points.
That works out at one in every 21 drivers (4.6%) living in the area – the highest ratio of any postcode in Britain and more than twice the national average of one in every 50 drivers (2.1%).
And the rest of West Yorkshire has no shortage of wannabe Lewis Hamiltons. Five of the top six postcode areas for drivers with at least six points on their licence are in the county.
Huddersfield (HD) and Leeds (LS) have one in every 27 drivers, 3.7% and 3.6% respectively, while in Bradford (BD) the ratio is one in every 29 drivers (3.4%) and in Wakefield (WF) it’s one in every 30 drivers (3.4%).
Only Plymouth’s PL postcode area can compete, which also has a ratio of one in every 29 drivers living in the area with six or more points on their licence. The figures come from the DVLA’s quarterly release of penalty points data.
It also reveals the postcode districts – the whole first half of your postcode, such as BD4 – with the largest proportion of drivers with six or more points on their licence.
At this local level, TS1 in Middlesbrough has the highest proportion in the country. One in every 15 drivers living in the area (6.6% of the total) has at least six points.
That’s followed by HU2 in Hull with one in every 18 drivers (5.7%). Next is HX1 in Halifax with one in every 18 (5.6%), followed by BD1 in Bradford with one in every 19 (5.3%) and L6 in Liverpool with one in every 19 (5.2%).
The DVLA data also confirms that men are far worse drivers than women. Males are almost three times as likely to have six points on the licence as female drivers.
One in every 34 male drivers (2.9%) have at least six points on their licence. That’s compared to one in every 91 females (1.1%).
Worst postcodes for drivers with six points or more on their licence:
HX (Halifax), one in every 21
HD (Huddersfield), one in every 27
LS (Leeds) one in every 27
BD (Bradford) one in every 29
PL (Plymouth) one in every 29
WF (Wakefield) one in every 30
TQ (Torquay) one in every 31
L (Liverpool) one in every 32
TW (Twickenham) one in every 34