Our worst drivers? BMW owners of course!

DRIVERS of grey BMW 7 Series are the most likely to be convicted of motoring offences, a report has found.

Analysis of more than six million car insurance quotes reveals owners of expensive, fast cars are up to 20 times more likely than those with older, more modest motors to break the rules of the road.

The worst offenders are drivers of the BMW 730d, which costs around £63,000. More than a fifth – 21 per cent – of owners who applied for insurance quotes admitted to receiving some form of motoring conviction over the past five years, according to comparison website MoneySuperMarket.

They were closely followed by owners of the similarly expensive Porsche Panamera, with a conviction rate of 20 per cent.

By contrast, owners of the Citroen ZX – which stopped being made in the 1990s – are the most law-abiding drivers. Just 1 per cent have been convicted of an offence over the past five years.

The second best-behaved were Perodua Kelisa drivers, with a conviction rate of 2 per cent.

The Malaysian-built Kelisa was the cheapest car on sale in the UK when it was introduced in 2002 – starting at under £5,000.

The analysis also found that owners of grey vehicles are the most likely to get caught speeding – and that Scotland was the region with the highest conviction rates.

According to another poll of 2,000 drivers, a third of those with a grey car have been convicted of speeding recently.

No reason is given for this, but other ‘high- offending colours’ included black and blue, with conviction rates of 31 and 29 per cent respectively.

Scottish drivers are most likely – 10 per cent – to have been caught speeding over the past five years, the insurance analysis found. They were followed by Welsh drivers on 9 per cent.

A MoneySuperMarket spokesman said it is crucial drivers give insurers full details of past offences – because otherwise they could be refused deals.