London and Glasgow unmasked as UK's worst offenders for drivers failing to stop and give details

Those caught face fines up to £10,000, 10 points on their licence and even jail12 February 2021

LONDON and Glasgow have been unmasked as the worst offending places in the UK when it comes to drivers failing to stop and give their details after a road accident. When you are involved in an incident that damages either another car or another person, the law requires you to stop at the scene and exchange the correct personal details with “any person who has reasonable grounds to request them”. If you don’t do it there and then you’ve got 24 hours to report, in person, to a police station and hand over details such as your insurance certificate and driving licence. But it seems thousands of Brits are failing to do either, according to new research by leading UK car leasing firm Select Car Leasing. The penalties for failing to do so are fierce – fines of up to £5,000, 10 points on your licence, disqualification and even custodial sentences. And yet throughout the UK motorists have been bending fenders and scarpering in their hundreds, leaving victims high and dry when it comes to repair bills and insurance negotiations. DVLA data uncovered by Select Car Leasing via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request shows how London has racked up 399 prosecutions since 2016. Glasgow is in second place with 269 offences, followed by Manchester with 148 convictions, Birmingham with 112 and Northampton with 106. Meanwhile, there are also dishonourable mentions for places such as Wrexham and Lincoln, which have relatively small populations but are still punching well above their weight when it comes to insurance-swapping dodgers. Mark Tongue, company director of Select Car Leasing, said: “It’s bad enough being in a crash, worse still to have the person either refuse to give their details before leaving the scene or giving over false information to cover their tracks. “This offence also covers things such as hitting someone’s empty car, thinking no-one has seen you, and then fleeing without leaving a note. “At the lowest level we’re talking about selfish, unscrupulous behaviours that push up the cost of car insurance for us all – and leave victims absolutely seething with rage. “And at the other end of the spectrum, a small minority of motorists are leaving the scene despite other parties suffering injury, which is simply unforgivable” While major cities such as Cardiff, Hull, Southampton and Newcastle failed to make it into the top 20 list of shame, others smaller cities didn’t fare quite so well - with Coventry racking up 45 prosecutions over four years, and Doncaster 43. Here’s the full list, below: PLACE (POPULATION) – No. OF PROSECUTIONS 1. London (8.982 million) – 399 2. Glasgow (598,830) – 269 3. Manchester (553,230) – 148 4. Birmingham (1.149m) – 112 5. Northampton (215,173) – 106 6. Edinburgh (482,005) – 104 7. Leeds (792,525) – 103 8. Aberdeen (207,932) – 98 9. Leicester (357,394) – 94 10. Nottingham (331,297) – 78 11. Derby (258,746) – 71 12. Norwich (197,212) – 59 =13. Bristol (467,099) – 57 =13. Stoke (256,127) – 57 15. Wrexham (136,126) – 56 =16. Liverpool (496,784) – 55 =16. Swansea (246,217) – 55 18. Sheffield (584,028) – 54 19,. Bradford (536,986) – 50 20. Lincoln (97,541) – 49 (DVLA response to the question: “How many AC20 endorsements for failing to give particulars or report an accident within 24 hours are on file, going back FOUR years?”)