We Watford people are a pretty reticent lot. We shun the limelight, we don’t like to draw attention to ourselves. So when Watford gets a mention in the national media, we tend to look the other way and shuffle our feet in embarrassment.

A couple of weeks ago, though, we made it to the front pages. The respected MoneySuperMarket website reported that drivers in Watford are the most likely to be involved in a car accident. Just over a fifth of motorists in the town had an accident in the past five years, according to a survey of 125 locations throughout Britain. We headed the list of shame with 22.2%.

READ MORE: Watford home to most accident prone UK drivers according to survey

Why this should be is unclear. Could it be that with the council changing our roadside civic signs from the Latin ‘Audentior’ to the English ‘Be Bold’ drivers take this as an invitation to throw caution to the winds and put their best foot down? Or is it a consequence of Watford being the most densely populated district council in England? (Did you know that? Not many do).

But this shouldn’t be seen as bad news. One of the regular subjects for letters in the Watford Observer is traffic congestion. Can’t we turn this to our advantage? What about signs on main roads: ‘You are now entering Watford, home of Britain’s worst motorists’? That should make visitors think twice.

And there will be a special question on motor insurance applications: ‘Are you intending to drive in Watford?’ The answer ‘Yes’ will result in premiums being weighted heavily. Perhaps, as news gets round, they’ll decide to go somewhere safer, like St Albans or Hemel Hempstead? Oh, perhaps not! St Albans came second in the list of most accident prone towns on 21.89% and Hemel Hempstead came third on 21.44%.

In case you’re wondering, Outer Hebrides on 9.21% was the least accident prone.

Anthony Bramley-Harker

Hibbert Avenue, Watford