Steel City drivers are some of politest on UK roads

An irate motorist Credit: ITV News

Sheffield has some of the politest drivers in the UK.

The Steel City's motorists have come third in a survey of driver behaviour .

Cardiff has the politest big-city drivers and Newcastle upon Tyne the rudest, according to the research.

The Welsh capital just pipped Birmingham in driver-behaviour findings from LV= car insurance involving more than 24,000 motorists in 15 UK big cities.

Sheffield, Coventry and Glasgow had the next most polite drivers based on

researchers' observations at junctions, roundabouts and pedestrian crossings.

Cardiff scored 97% for politeness. The city's motorists had a greater tendency to thank other road users, stop for pedestrians at crossings and give way to other drivers at junctions.

On average 94% of the drivers that were observed in Cardiff stopped and waited for a person to cross at a pedestrian crossing, compared with 68% on average across the 15 cities. Also, 89% of motorists in Cardiff will indicate at a roundabout when turning right, compared with a national average of 76%.

In contrast, Newcastle drivers scored only 62%, placing the city firmly at the foot of the politeness table.

The observers found that female drivers were 5% more likely to indicate at a roundabout when turning right, 6% more likely to give way at a junction and 14% more likely to wait for a pedestrian to fully cross the road before driving on.

Drivers of small to medium-sized cars were most likely to stop and wait at a

pedestrian crossing, especially compared to van drivers. At the same time, those in the most prestigious cars drove on regardless of pedestrians waiting at the

crossing 23% of the time on average.

Only a minority (4%) of drivers displayed signs of anti-social behaviour during the observations. A total of 9% of drivers in Bristol and 6% in Newcastle upon Tyne were playing music at an excessive volume, while 7% of drivers in Edinburgh and 5% of drivers in London were observed tailgating.

These were the marks scored by each city:

  • Cardiff 97%

  • Birmingham 96%

  • Sheffield 89%

  • Coventry 86%

  • Glasgow 85%

  • Nottingham 82%

  • Bradford 81%

  • Leicester 80%

  • Liverpool 76%

  • London 71.4%

  • Bristol 71.2%

  • Leeds 71%

  • Manchester 71%

  • Edinburgh 71%

  • Newcastle 62%