Which French drivers to avoid?

The French insurance comparison website ‘LesFurets.com’ has conducted a survey of which French drivers are the worst, based on a study of over 5 million car insurance quotes & claims made from 2019 to 2020.

According to this study:

17% of French car owners are bad drivers. This is based on the criteria of license suspension, insurance termination, accident claims & convictions for motoring offences.

Of this 17%; 70% are male, 67% without children, 58% single & 50% employed.

Of the 17%; 35% are in the 18-25 year old age group – the majority having had at least one accident or a conviction for driving under the influence of drugs. Whilst the next group (26-35 year olds) represent 30% of the total, the majority of which have had license withdrawals, hit & run convictions or insurance cancellation.

Regionally, the Ile-de-France region around Paris has most bad drivers followed by the Auvergne Rhone-Alpes, whilst the Centre-Val-de-Loire & Burgundy-Franche-Comte have the fewest bad drivers. Being more specific, the Nord (59), Rhone (69) & the Bouches-du-Rhone (13) departments have the highest percentage of bad drivers.

Marseilles is the city with most (4.2%) bad drivers whilst surprisingly Paris has only 1.1%.

Vehicles preferred by these ‘worst’ drivers are the Peugeot 308, Peugeot 206 & the Renault Clio IV, which are also three of the most popular cars on French roads.

Typical Profile of the bad driver is someone who drives between 9,000 & 10,000kms / year, has had a license for 3 – 5 years & uses their car mainly for home to work journeys.

Women drivers were found to have considerably less accidents & convictions than male drivers.