Youngest and Oldest Drivers 'Know Least About Highway Code'

Widespread ignorance about the Highway Code has been discovered by a new poll from car insurance provider elephant.co.uk.

The firm said that the youngest and oldest drivers - those aged from 17 to 21, and those aged over 60 - knew the least about the road guidelines. Government statistics show that these age groups cause proportionally higher numbers of car insurance claims-causing accidents - with the worst-scoring group of all, young men, also responsible for the highest number of crashes.

Britain's 40 to 49-year-olds scored the highest for Highway Code knowledge, however, with fifty- and thirty-somethings, who also traditionally pay less for their car insurance, taking second and third places.

Managing director at elephant.co.uk, Brian Martin, commented: "It's interesting to see the two extreme age groups performing the worst in our test. Perhaps the over 60s have forgotten what they were taught and maybe the younger drivers simply weren't paying enough attention when they were learning.

"It's interesting that those in their 40s and 50s wouldn't have sat the theory test which was introduced in 1996 but came top in our test. It seems to have done little to teach drivers the Highway Code."

The car insurance provider tested around 3,000 people for their Highway Code knowledge over the course of its research.