A study conducted at a German university has found that people who own and drive classic cars are much less of a menace on the roads, than those who use modern vehicles.

Researchers at Dresden University studied various figures relating to domestic motor accidents and concluded that owning a car that was built at least 30 years ago, makes you less likely to end up involved in a collision.

One per cent of cars that are registered to drive on German roads are over three decades old, but they are involved in a fraction of the total traffic accidents.

Meanwhile, 36 per cent of cars driven by Germans were made within the last four years and they account for 31 per cent of accidents, which suggests that there is a correlation between buying a new car and careless driving.

Of the accidents which actually cause injury, classic car drivers were once again ahead of the game, with just 91 out of 100,000 cases likely to cause damage to the people involved.

This flies in the face of the idea that driving an old car that lacks modern safety features is dangerous. Instead, it seems to instil the driver with a sense of care and responsibility, which helps them avoid accidents.