Back in 2017 we launched V-Auto, an innovative new product with useful features like Auto SOS and Find My Car.

But if we had to pick just one favourite V-Auto feature, we would probably choose the Driver Safety Score. This score means you can determine once and for all who the best driver is in your household check how you’ve been performing behind the wheel and make any necessary adjustments to improve your score.

It also means that we can make a few assumptions about which countries in Europe have the best drivers. So in the spirit of friendly competition and curiosity, we decided to take a closer look at Driver Safety Scores by country.

First of all, how does V-Auto work?

V-Auto is a subscription service* that combines hardware (a dongle with a built-in V-Sim that plugs into the OBD2 port in your car) and the app that you pair it with. You don’t have to be an existing Vodafone customer to sign up – everyone is welcome.

Once installed, V-Auto will start gathering telematics data when you’re behind the wheel to give you a Driver Safety Score that you can take a look at in the app. A number of measures, including how fast you drive, how frequently you swerve and how often you slam on the brakes, are all assessed to calculate the score.

The contenders: Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK

To find out which country has the best drivers, we analysed the results from thousands of anonymised driving scores across Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, focusing on three main areas: Speed, Road Type and Acceleration and Braking.

Next, we came up with a points system, giving each area a score from 0 to 100. Points don’t necessarily mean prizes in this case, but a higher score is better than a lower one. We calculated the average for each category, as well as the overall average, to work out where the best drivers come from.

The V-Auto Speed Test

Unsurprisingly, speeding (or not) can affect your driving score. One of the many measures we analyse is the speed the car is driven at. And the winner of the ‘least likely to speed test’ is…

Italian drivers achieved the best average score as well as the joint individual best score in this category. At the other end of the scale, Germany can claim both the average lowest score and the individual worst score, which is likely the result of Autobahns.

The V-Auto Road Type Test

This score is based on how drivers perform by road type. More disciplined drivers around town are likely to score much higher points here. And the winner is…

So Germany may not have done too well on the speed test but they certainly made up some ground on the road type test, suggesting that German drivers are the best when it comes to safely diving around town. Bringing up the rear in this category with the worst results on average are UK drivers.

The V-Auto Acceleration and Braking Test

If you’re lighter on the pedals then this is where you can score some good points. And the winner is…

Taking the top spot in the Acceleration and Braking test is the UK, suggesting that the average British driver isn’t too heavy on the pedals. The same can’t be said of Italian drivers, who take last place in this round.

So Italy, Germany and the UK have taken three of the four top spots. Can Spain pip the other three countries and win the best overall drivers title? Let’s see.

The overall winner

It’s the big one. Looking at average scores across all three tests, the country with the best drivers is…

It’s official(ish), the best drivers in Europe (well, out of the four countries we looked at) come from Germany. Despite those speedy autobahns, German drivers are on average the best.

Interestingly, Italian drivers delivered the individual best and individual worst results and Spain came very, very close to winning outright. We’ll take a look at the stats in another six months to see if there have been any changes.

V-Auto is now available in Portugal, Greece and Ireland (with more countries coming soon) so next time around we’ll be able to assess a broader range of driver scores from more countries. Until then, congratulations Germany!

Find out more about V-Auto over on our website.

Huge thank you to product aficionado David Copeland, the brain behind this blog post. Follow him @DC_Copeland.

*V-Auto by Vodafone car tracking device connects straight to the Vodafone network via a V-Sim by Vodafone and is activated and accessible via a smartphone app (available on both iOS and Android and, for both Vodafone and non-Vodafone customers). It is compatible with most cars made after 2003. V-Auto is a subscription service. In the UK, a one-time purchase fee of £85 applies and the subscription is just £4/month. Terms apply.

~Auto SOS only works in your home country and not when you’re abroad and is subject to Vodafone network coverage

~Find My Car is subject to GPS Signal and Vodafone network coverage.

A study of 2,233 drivers using Vodafone’s V-Auto service in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK looked at how driving styles differ across the four nations. In line with Vodafone’s commitment to safeguard the privacy of their customers, any insights made were based on anonymous and aggregated data sets which removed any association to individual drivers. Vodafone is dedicated in ensuring that appropriate privacy and security controls are in place when it comes to their products and services. You can find out more about Vodafone’s approach to privacy by visiting their privacy centre.