The unluckiest postcodes in the UK to ride your motorcycle

Visordown looks at motorcycle non-fault insurance claims data and compares the unluckiest places to ride your motorbike.

motorcycle near miss.

We've been analysing data from a large UK based motorcycle insurer and have presented their findings from last year, which include the unluckiest places to ride and unluckiest motorcycles to ride. Plus, whilst on the subject of unlucky, we also list the worst areas for motorcycle theft. 

Here’s what we found out from 2018 non-fault insurance data:

The unluckiest postcodes, which suffer the highest rate of non-fault accidents (%):  

 

(%)

HA - Harrow

66

CR - Croydon

59

SM - Sutton

57

EN - Enfield

56

NW - North West London

56

UB - Southall

55

DA - Dartford

54

ME - Rochester

54

CT - Canterbury

54

TR - Truro

54

Over half of the motorbike accident claims in Dartford, Rochester, Canterbury and Truro weren’t the rider’s fault, making these four places the unluckiest postcodes outside of London. On the flip side, the Scottish town of Galashiels has the lowest rate of non-fault accidents (26%) – just two-fifths of the rate in the unluckiest postcode. 

Postcodes with the lowest rate of non-fault accidents (%):  

 

(%)

TD - Galashiels

26

HX - Halifax

28

DD - Dundee

29

TS - Cleveland

33

KA - Kilmarnock

34

FK - Falkirk

34

AB - Aberdeen

34

EH - Edinburgh

35

DN - Doncaster

36

LS - Leeds

36

Across 16 years, the data shows that the unluckiest month for bikers to ride is September. I wonder if people have still got the summer riding hat on, despite falling road temperatures and wetter conditions? 

What’s really spooky is that January sees the fewest accidents. Perhaps there are fewer people riding at this time, as they pack their bike up for the long winter? 

Owners of different makes of motorcycles also experience varying degrees of fortune when it comes to who is at fault for accidents.  

The unluckiest manufacturers who suffered the highest rate of non-fault accidents (%):  

 

(%)

Peugeot

54

Suzuki

49

Kawasaki

48

Honda

48

Aprilia

47

The data reveals that French motorcycle manufacturer Peugeot is twice as unlucky as KTM, with a smaller quarter of KTM bikers not at fault of their claims.  

Manufacturers with the lowest rate of non-fault accidents (%):

 

(%)

KTM

24

Ducati

40

Triumph

43

Vespa-Piaggio

45

BMW

46

Manufacturers with the highest & manufacturers with the lowest rate of non-fault accidents (%):

The worst area for motorcycle theft in the UK

So, what about the place you’re most likely to have your motorcycle stolen? 

Without further ado, it’s Greenwich... which has been ranked the worst borough in London for motorcycle theft by Bike Rated.

They discovered that out of the 33 boroughs across the city, 11.4% of all motorcycle and scooter thefts reported in the last 12 months were in Greenwich.

London’s four worst boroughs are Greenwich, Barking and Dagenham and Wandsworth, which combined contribute 29.6% of London’s total reported motorcycle thefts.

Over 27,000 motorcycles and scooters were stolen last year in the UK (2018). That’s one in seven vehicles stolen in the UK, of which motorcycles only make up 2% of all vehicles on the registered on Britains roads. 

It comes as no surprise that London is the worst for motorcycles crime, but what about the other counties across the UK? 

County

Rank – Thefts Per Resident

Bristol

1st (Worst)

East Yorkshire

2nd

Herefordshire

3rd

Cheshire

4th

East Sussex

5th

Derbyshire

6th

Berkshire

7th

Greater London

8th

Bedfordshire

9th

Northamptonshire

10th

Per capita, Bristol is the worst county for motorcycle theft, so bad that there are active vigilante groups trying to combat the problem. 

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