If you ever wanted evidence that statistics can be made to prove anything, look no further than the latest findings from online car insurance company the AA.
After questioning more than 1500 adults, AA researchers found that drivers aged between 18 and 24 tended to be more responsible at the wheel than older road users, a result which flies in the face of practically every other similar study done to date.
The responsibility-trend is so pronounced that researchers nicknamed the 18 to 24's "RAGs" - or the "Risk Averse Generation".
The AA, which supplies online car insurance as well as its trademark breakdown cover, say RAGs are the least likely to have driven over the speed limit, the least likely to have driven without a licence and the least likely to have driven uninsured.
According to AA analysts, the results prove that the majority of young drivers are being misrepresented by the press and other car insurance companies.
"It's clear that irresponsible driving and accidents caused by a minority of 18 to 24 year-olds earns a bad press for the majority," said the AA's motor insurance manager Janet Pell.
But Mike Page, spokesman for the online car insurance professionals at Hoot, disagreed. "I don't find the concept of a RAG all that convincing," he said.
"It's to be expected that 18 to 24-year-old motorists have committed fewer minor traffic crimes - they've not been driving for as long as older motorists.
"If anything, the research highlights the fact that the so-called RAG age-group is less experienced behind the wheel, not more responsible."