Speed risks revealed by telematics insurer
Insure the Box has found that drivers who speed 20% of the time increase their chance of being involved in an accident by 87%.
It’s analysed more than three billion miles of driving data, identifying regular speeding culprits and their increased likelihood of being involved in an accident.
Its research also found that those who speed 10% of the time increase the risk by 42%.
Smoothness of driving is also a key factor in accident risks. Drivers who have erratic driving behaviour such as swerving, speeding and habitually slamming on the brakes are far more likely to end up having a crash.
The findings underline the power of driving data from black box policies in supporting driver safety. Insure the Box champions road safety initiatives and encourages safer driving though the feedback it provides. Recently it identified a 30% increase in evening rush hour accidents immediately after the clock change and implemented a programme of communication to warn customers about the risks.
Charlotte Halkett, general manager communications for Insure The Box said, ‘When Insure The Box launched over six years ago we had a clear objective to change the way insurance serves young drivers and to support safer driving in this high risk age group.
‘Unlike traditional motor insurers, we can calculate the risk of a customer having an accident based on their individual driving patterns, rather than the usual parameters such as age and vehicle engine size. And the actual driving data received from the black boxes installed in our customers’ vehicles enables us to directly target feedback and incentives to encourage our policyholders to improve their driving.
‘For example, we have seen a reduction in speeding of 15% amongst customers who we had seen speeding on a regular basis. Our data shows that this is likely to reduce the number of serious or even fatal accidents on our roads.’
Simon Rewell, Insure The Box road safety manager, added, ‘There are still far too many young men and women killed or seriously injured on our roads. Insure The Box is proud to be at the forefront of the telematics insurance market and remains committed to using driving data to support young driver safety.’
