Lockdown driving habits revealed: 46% spike in driving without due care

• FOI to UK police forces finds 67% saw rise in motorists breaking rules of the road in 2020
• Hitting parked cars accounted for 26% of all accident claims in 2020

The latest investigation from Admiral car insurance into driving behaviours in 2020, has revealed that hitting a parked and unattended car accounted for 26% of all accident claims last year, an increase of more than 2% compared to 2019.

The findings, which form part of a wider study of motorist behaviour in 2020, reveal that while the UK was in a national lockdown for most of the year, accident claims involving drivers hitting parked cars overtook rear end shunts as the most common type of claim. In fact, claims for being hit in the rear or hitting another driver in the rear accounted for 24% of accidental damage claims over the year, a fall of 3%.

Breaking the rules of the road

As well as looking closely at their own internal accident claims data, the insurer also investigated whether motorists’ driving behaviour changed last year.

Admiral submitted an FOI request to police forces across the UK to find out if more motorists were caught breaking the rules of the road in 2020, compared to 20191.

The insurer found that, of the police forces who responded to the request, 67% saw an increase in the number of motorists that were either caught speeding or driving without due care and consideration.