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Bad drivers spend an extra £500 a year on fuel

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
06/01/2017

Being a bad driver costs an extra £560 a year compared with the cost of being a good motorist, findings reveal.

An analysis of motoring behaviour such as acceleration and braking found that bad drivers visit petrol stations nearly twice as much as the best drivers, and they spend an average of £1,398.53, compared with £836.75.

According to Direct Line Drive Plus research, a smoother driving style can mean motorists get more miles per gallon, while a more aggressive approach is more costly and dangerous.

The table below shows the results of 319,000 journeys taken by more than 2,000 drivers over a two month period towards the end of 2016.

Better drivers received a higher driving score while bad motorists received lower scores:

ym-drivingtable

It showed that those with lowest ranking driving habits drive an average of 413 miles between petrol station fill ups, compared with 693 miles for those with the best scores.

The research comes just days after the RAC revealed that petrol and diesel prices have risen to their highest point in 18 months.