UK penalty point data by location

We had some time to kill at Cuvva HQ this year, so we decided to rank Britain’s 10 worst postcodes for speeding, uninsured driving, and mobile phone use.

The top-10 lists were put together using new penalty point data gathered exclusively by Cuvva from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

The three lists, shared in full below, offer a worrying picture of reckless driving across the country over the past year.

Data source: Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The new data covers the period July 2023 and July 2024 inclusive.

Worst 10 areas for speeding

Between July 2023 and July 2024 (the most up-to-date 12-month period available), 492,406 drivers were hit with penalty points for driving offence SP30 - ‘Exceeding statutory speed limit on a public road’.

According to anti-speeding campaigners THINK!, speeding contributes to 1-in-4 fatal collisions on the country’s roads - putting the fact that almost half a million drivers were slapped with penalty points for speeding on a public road over the past 12 months into sharp focus.

Safety concerns aside for both drivers and others on the road, Brits are forking out 100s of millions of pounds annually on driving fines that could easily be avoided.

Nottingham topped the speeding list, with Birmingham and Leeds rounding out the top 3.

1. NG postcode (Nottingham) - 11,301 drivers
2. B postcode (Birmingham) - 11,185 drivers
3. LS postcode (Leeds) - 8,739 drivers
4. PE postcode (Peterborough) - 8,259 drivers
5. S postcode (Sheffield) - 8,214 drivers
6. NR postcode (Norwich) - 7,845 drivers
7. LE postcode (Leicester) - 7,736 drivers
8. L postcode (Liverpool) - 7,593 drivers
9. BS postcode (Bristol) - 7,572 drivers
10. PL postcode (Plymouth) - 7,428 drivers

FYI: London is split into eight postcode districts - the worst for speeding was SE (south-east London), with 6,606 drivers caught.

Worst 10 areas for uninsured driving

Several thousands of drivers were also hit with penalty points for driving without insurance, despite insurance providers like Cuvva making it easy to drive any car for a short time with policies starting from one hour.

In total, 28,900 drivers were hit with penalty points for driving offence IN10 - ‘Using a vehicle uninsured against third party risks’.

Manchester topped the uninsured driving list, with Birmingham and Glasgow rounding out the top 3.

1. M postcode (Manchester) - 997 drivers
2. B postcode (Birmingham) - 856 drivers
3. G postcode (Glasgow) - 761 drivers
4. E postcode (East London) - 633 drivers
5. L postcode (Liverpool) - 572 drivers
6. LE postcode (Leicester) - 527 drivers
7. SE postcode (South East London) - 522 drivers
8. NN postcode (Northampton) - 505 drivers
9. S postcode (Sheffield) - 493 drivers
10. N postcode (North London) - 491 drivers

Darryl Bowman from Cuvva said "There’s no need to drive uninsured when there’s short-term car insurance options available. You can easily get insured in minutes. It’s just not worth the risk of unwanted fines, penalty points or even a driving ban."

Worst 10 areas for using phones at the wheel

Thousands of drivers were also slapped with penalty points in the last year after being caught out by a relatively new driving offence, which aims to reduce the number of people using their mobile phone at the wheel.

Overall, 19,573 drivers were hit with penalty points for driving offence CU80 - ‘Breach of requirements as to control of the vehicle, such as using a mobile phone’.

The offence was initially introduced in 2017 to combat the number of people using their phones while driving. More recent changes to the Highway Code mean it is now an offence to even touch your phone while driving, even just to hang up a call or change a song.

South West London topped the list, with Guildford and Birmingham rounding out the top 3.

1. SW postcode (South West London) - 431 drivers
2. GU postcode (Guildford) - 420 drivers
3. B postcode (Birmingham) - 413 drivers
4. KT postcode (Kingston upon Thames) - 407 drivers
5. IP postcode (Ipswich) - 397 drivers
6. SE postcode (South East London) - 390 drivers
7. NR postcode (Norwich) - 389 drivers
8. G postcode (Glasgow) - 376 drivers
9. BD postcode (Bradford) - 353 drivers
10. S postcode (Sheffield) - 351 drivers

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