Drivers coming across motorists called Lauren and Luke should look out, according to a survey.

Drivers with these names were shown to be the most accident-prone in a survey of more than 500,000 insurance claims by elephant.co.uk.

Motorists called Luke were 21% more likely to have an accident than the average male driver, while drivers named Lauren were 24% more likely to be involved in a crash than the average female.

Judged just by first names, the second most accident-prone male drivers were those called Sam, followed by Ben, Daniel and Joseph.

After Lauren, the women with the worst accident records were Danielle, Jessica, Leanne and Natalie.

The survey showed that if you are called Douglas or Margaret, you are least likely to have a road accident.

Men called Douglas were 43% less likely to be in an accident than those named Luke, while Margarets were 44% less likely to be in a crash than Laurens.

The next "safest" male drivers were Raymond, Iain, Gordon and Trevor. After Margaret, the safest women drivers were those called Ann, Lesley, Anne and Wendy.

Elephant.co.uk managing director Brian Martin said: "Our results definitely show that motorists with some names have a higher probability of being involved in a car accident than others.

"There is no obvious reason for this, although some of these names are more common in younger people, who present a higher risk of having an accident."

© Press Association 2009